



IgSfffTT* 

V]f-r 
J- 







-' — 1 3 \ 








^MZPJ^^ 



liE«T 



H-jSff}^! 



rttt^i»^eFfc 









!»1! 



i( 




l'*a'^dtiii»E AS\i 




Class „BSjJ.J?^ 

Book ___ .:e ±^ 

GoiyrightN" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE NEW CANAAN 



OR 



The Golden Age Restored 



CHIEFLY DRAWN FROM, THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE 

FIRST SEVEN CHAPTERS OF THE 

BOOK OF JOSHUA 



BY 

B. EDMISTON 



PASTOR OF THE SOCIETY OF THE NEW CHURCH OF KIVERSIDB, 
CALIFORNIA 



t ■> "> 









PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY THE 

SWEDENBORG PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 

1903 



WM. F. FELL & CO., 

ELECTROTYPERS AND PRINTER^ 

1220-24 SANSOM STREET 

PHILADELPHIA. 






THE LIBRARY OF 
CONbKESS 

Two Copies Receiveo 

MAY 18 1903 

CopyfignA tnxry 

CL5\SS /f XXc No. 



dop4 



Copyright, 1903, 

BY 

BEERY EDMISTON. 



PREFACE. 



All the churches which have existed upon the earth 
are brought to view in the Bible in chronological order, 
and their several qualities are represented by Abraham 
and his posterity. Thus the spiritual history of our 
race is written in the language of symbols, much more 
accurately than would have been possible to wTite 
it in any human language. Four distinct churches, 
apart from various minor branches, have come and 
gone, and the fifth and last is now in its formative 
state, and will soon be fully organized and receive the 
influx of life which is peculiar to a Celestial Church. 

The fall of our race was fully consummated at the 
time of the First Advent, and at once the work of 
restoration began, and the upward trend of the church 
with great clearness was represented by the Exodus, 
and the journey under Moses through the wilderness. 
In that journey the First Dispensation of the Christian 
Church is most accurately brought to view. Indeed, 
practically all Christian people have recognized the 
representation. That church ran its devious course, 
and was consummated about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century. Then with the Second Coming of 
the Lord, the opening of the internal sense of the 
Word, and the giving of the '^Heavenly Doctrines'' 



111 



IV PREFACE. 



began the formation of the Lord's New and Ever- 
lasting Church. 

Of the former churches the history is already written, 
but of this coming church we have prophecy rather 
than history to guide us. Joshua the divinely com- 
missioned Leader in conducting the hosts of Israel 
across the Jordan, and in taking possession of the 
promised land, with all the marvelous incidents con- 
nected therewith, brings the heavenly church to 
view in a light which enraptures the humble disciple 
of the Lord. So clear and beautiful is this repre- 
sentation of prophecy, that the state brought to view 
is fairer than that of the literal Canaan '^ flowing with 
milk and honey. ' ' Truly its contemplation fiUeth the 
devout heart, in which abideth faith, with the joys 
of the Celestial realm. This bright and inspiring 
picture of the coming church, has long cheered the 
writer on in the study of the internal sense of the 
book of Joshua, making the tedious labor a feast 
of joy. 

Being convinced that great prophetic enunciations, 
of infinite importance to the church at the present 
time, are contained within the literal history of the 
passage of the Israelites over the Jordan, and into 
the promised land, the chief purpose of this little 
book is to make that representative meaning as clear 
as possible. In accordance with this object, the salient 
points in the first seven chapters of Joshua are touched 
upon in a somewhat connected manner, passing over 
much the larger part of the text. And if the disciple 



PREFACE. 



of the Lord in his Second Coming, can find a tithe 
of the sweetness and heavenly joy which the labor 
has brought into the author's own heart and life, he 
will be abundantly repaid. 

The necessity of quoting from the writings of 
Swedenborg so frequently, and of using the technical 
style peculiar to New Church literature, is regretted. 
But as the author is writing chiefly for New Church 
people, it seems imperative to show that he is not only 
in sympathy with those writings, but also that his 
views are in harmony with them throughout. He 
would further say that he is wholly indebted to those 
writings for the key to the spiritual sense of the 
Word, which key, however, he is conscious of being 
able to use, only in a clumsy manner. 

B. Edmiston, 

Pastor of the New Church Society of Riverside, California. 
January 4, 1903. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Representative Chuech and People, .... 1 

11. Two Distinct Churches, 11 

III. Joshua and Swedenborg, 22 

IV. Preparing Victuals, 34 

V. Ordered to the Front, 44 

VI. Spying the Land, 57 

VII. On to the Jordan, 70 

VIII. Following the Ark, 87 

IX. The Two Pillars, 102 

X. Regeneration by Love, 115 

XL The Coming Church, 128 

XII. The Celebration, , . . . . 146 

XIII. The Fruit of the Land, . 161 

XIV. The Manna Ceased, 175 

XV. The Fall of Jericho, 191 

XVI. The Sin of Achan and Its Removal, 209 



Vll 



I. 

THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. 



The relation of the Hebrew Race to the written and 
unwritten history of the human family is unique. 
Placed in the middle ground between the Golden Age 
of the past and that of the future, by representation it 
reaches back to the First Man, and forward till the 
Grand Man of earth receives the crown of gold which 
shall never crumble. By inspired history and equally 
inspired representations, it makes known the qualities 
of the ancient churches, thus revealing what has been. 
And by representatives and direct prophecies, it pene- 
trates the future till the curse is lifted, and our race 
stands in the innocence of childhood, and the wisdom 
of age. 

The falling away of the Primitive Church from its 
early integrity, broke the chain of orderly human life, 
and led the race into the valley of the shadow of death. 
And the Divine plan for restoring the fallen race required 
that a peculiar people should be placed in the midst of 
the valley. An external race was needed, from which in- 
ternal, spiritual life had departed, which could serve 
the double purpose of representing a church, and of re- 
ceiving and sacredly guarding such revelations as might 
be made from time to time. And a further, and most 
1 1 



THE NEW CANAAN. 



sacred use to be served by this representative of a church, 
was that in its midst, when the race had reached its 
lowest point, the world's Redeemer might be born, and 
the upward trend of the race begin. 

The representative mission of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, and the children of Israel as a nation, is wonder- 
ful, and the more carefully it is considered, the greater 
becomes the wonder, and the feelings of awe inspired 
in the reverent mind. It is seen to unroll as a panorama, 
all the changing states of the church, and of the world 
of mankind, past, present, and future. And it reveals 
the mvsteries of the God-head, of the incarnation, and 
of the great redemption wrought out for the world, all 
that men or angels may hope to comprehend. 

With a deep consciousness of his own inadequacy 
for the task, and with an earnest prayer for guidance 
and help, the author would simply essay to open, as 
Hght may be given, some of the good news, which has 
been to him '^as cold water to a thirsty soul," touch- 
ing the incoming Celestial Church, represented and 
described with, great clearness in the book of Joshua, 
particularly in the first seven chapters. He is moved 
to this undertaking because he sees truths here which 
he is confident many hungry souls vnll rejoice to know, 
and will be the better for knowing. 

As a preparation for understanding the representative 
meaning of the book of Joshua, it seems necessary 
to give a brief synopsis of the general representation of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as of the children of 
Israel. Swedenborg tells us that by these three patri- 



THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. S 

archs, in the supreme sense, the Lord is represented. 
(A. C. 6497.) From the same source, in various places 
we learn that they also represent the church. In A. C. 
1965, it is said: "Abraham represented the celestial 
church, the celestial man, and likewise the celestial 
principle itself." And it is clear that while representing 
the universal celestial church, which is everywhere essen- 
tially the same, he particularly represents the Most An- 
cient Church. At the beginning of the fiftieth chapter 
of Genesis, Swedenborg says, in the contents, that after 
the celestial church perished, "a Spiritual Church was 
established by the Lord (clearly the Ancient or Noachic 
Church), and that in its place, only the representative 
of a church was established among the posterity of 
Jacob." In short, the Most Ancient Church perished, 
and in its place the Ancient Church was raised up, which 
in the course of time, also perished, and then the repre- 
sentative of a church, which means the Israelites, was 
raised up, and led out of Egypt by Moses, and wandered 
in the wilderness forty years, when Joshua was made 
leader, and conducted them into Canaan. 

Then it is with this representative of a church, the 
children of Israel, that we are chiefly concerned in this 
work. The great lesson is in the spiritual and heav- 
enly things which were represented by the journey from 
Egypt to Canaan, particularly by the incidents con- 
nected with the passage from the wilderness into the 
promised land under the leadership of Joshua. Getting 
ready to cross the Jordan, bringing the host into march- 
ing order, the dividing of the waters that they might 



THE NEW CANAAN. 



pass over dry shod — all these movements have an im- 
portant and most interesting meaning. The encamp- 
ment at Gilgal, the renewal of the rite of circum- 
cision, the celebration of the Passover, the manna ceasing 
to fall, and the fruit of the land becoming their all- 
sufficient food supply, finally the taking of Jericho, 
and the occupancy of the land, the destruction of the 
people and all their effects, representing the subjugation 
of all the rebellious provinces of the world, under the 
great redemption wrought out by the Incarnate Lord, 
and the full restoration of the fallen race to its primitive 
state, as in the days of old, before sin entered into the 
world. 

But the Israelites, of whom this representative of a 
church was constituted, were external and natural men 
above any other nation, and could only represent a true 
and internal church by external rites and natural things, 
that is their rites and ceremonies had nothing spiritual 
in them, merely signifying and representing internal 
and spiritual things « Illustrative of this, it may be 
stated, as we are informed in the Writings, that the 
bones of Joseph which were carried up to Canaan by 
the Israelites, represented the spiritually dead state of 
this people. They represented their religion. There 
was the cold and dry form, but no vitality. As the 
mummy of Joseph was to the living Joseph, in the 
prime of manhood, so were the externals of the Israelit- 
ish church to a true and living church. 

But as guided by the inspired Moses the Israelites 
could represent and personify a true church by their 



THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. 5 

wilderness journey, and as led across the Jordan by 
Joshua, and into the promised land, they most accurately 
represented the raising up of the incoming Celestial 
Church which is to be the crown of all the churches, and to 
continue forever. In the providence of the Lord, it was 
so ordered that their external condition exactly served 
the representative purpose. Their state of bondage 
while in Egypt, accurately represented the conditions 
of the natural man while in bondage to his evil nature. 
Escaping from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, by being 
led through the Red Sea, brings to view the transition 
from a natural to a spiritual state, that is to the begin- 
ning of true spiritual life. Then the journey through the 
wilderness, signifies the progress of spiritual regenera- 
tion, and particularly represents the first dispensation of 
the Christian Church. And in like manner, the com- 
pletion of that journey under Joshua, the crossing of the 
Jordan and taking possession of the land represent the 
incoming Celestial Church, and the representation is 
marvelous, as we shall see. 

This representative mission, was the special use the 
Israelites were to perform, in the Divine plan for re- 
storing the fallen race to primitive conditions. 

We have a clear statement in the Writings, explain- 
ing why the Israelites, who had no internal spiritual 
life, were chosen to represent the churches. In A. C. 6692 
it is said : ' ^ Lest therefore the representatives and signif- 
icatives should be any longer turned into things magical 
the Israelitish people were selected, that the representa- 
tives and significatives of the church might be restored 



THE NEW CANAAN. 



amongst them ; which people were such that they could 
not thence fabricate anything magical, inasmuch as they 
were altogether in externals, and had no belief in the exis- 
tence of any internal principle, still less any spiritual prin- 
ciple. With people of such a character, magic cannot exist, 
as it existed among the Egyptians. ' ^ 

Now as we have seen, the Ancient Spiritual Church 
came to its end, and the representation of it ceased about 
the time of Joseph's death, and the Israelitish repre- 
sentative of a church was raised up to take its place. 
But although the Ancient Church no longer had a place 
in the natural world, a general or final judgment could 
not be executed upon its people, in the world of spirits, 
till after the coming of the Lord into the w^orld. Hence 
teeming myriads of them were collected in what is called 
the lower earth, remaining in essentially the same spir- 
itual state as while they were in the world, for the removal 
from them of that which was false and evil could not be 
effected till the work of redemption was actually accom- 
plished by the Lord. In the Writings, in many places it 
is stated that the Lord came to redeem those of the Spirit- 
ual Church. This redemption included those who were 
bound at the time the Lord was in the world, and also 
those of the New Spiritual Church which He was about to 
establish. The redemption of those of the latter church 
from the bondage of sin, became actual with individuals, 
as they sought it, by complying with the necessary condi- 
tions. 

But it is not necessary to our present purpose to dis- 
cuss further the liberation of those of the Spiritual 



THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. 7 

Church. Any one who so desires, may find the subject 
set forth in clear hght, in A. C. 6854, and various other 
places. The statements made in regard to the Ancient 
Spiritual Church are simply designed to prepare the way 
for seeing that the Israelites in Eg5^pt, after the death of 
Joseph, and the Pharaoh who knew him, in all the afflic- 
tions they suffered, represented the state of those in the 
lower earth, as it is termed in the spiritual world. And in 
dehvering the children of Israel from the cruel power of 
Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and in Moses leading them 
out through the Red Sea, the redemption by the Lord of 
the great multitude of suffering spirits, who had long 
been crying, ''How long, Lord, how long?" is im- 
pressively represented. And it is well to remember that 
this representation on the part of the Israelites, guided as 
it was by the Lord, was also in the character of a distinct 
prophecy, which was literally fulfilled when the Lord was 
in the world, about fifteen hundred years later. After 
His resurrection, it is said by an Apostle, He went and 
preached unto the spirits in prison, liberating them, and 
lifting them up, and of them He formed a New Spiritual 
heaven which was to be their home, and which was to 
constitute the internal of the First Christian Church. 
With this thought distinctly in the mind, it will be easy 
for those who long for the coming of the New Church in 
its full state of life, to see that other representations, 
made under the Divine guidance, by this representative 
people, either have been or in due course of time will be 
fulfilled in every particular, leaving no rational ground 
for doubt, as they are definite prophecies, as well as 



8 TEE NEW CANAAN. 

representatives. Indeed almost every prophecy in the 
Word is expressed by representatives. And all these 
representatives which describe future states of the church 
will with unfailing certainty be fulfilled. 

About the time of the exodus, the representation of 
the children of Israel was changed. They ceased to re- 
present those of the Ancient Church in the lower earth, 
and began to represent a New Spiritual Church which had 
not yet been raised up, and could not take its place in 
the world, till after the advent of the Lord. But this 
change in the representation was not abrupt, but came in 
gradually, as the real change from one dispensation to 
another always comes. For in the consummation of one 
church, and the raising up of a new one to take its place, 
there is always an intermediate state, ' ' the time of the 
end, ' ' partaking of the characteristics of both, the con- 
summated church, and the one just springing into life. 
In this particular case, the beginning of this intermediate 
state, w^as when Moses was called to make preparation 
to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And its end came, 
when having crossed the Red Sea, and from the east- 
ern shore witnessed the overthrow of Pharaoh and the 
Egyptians, Moses brought the Israelites from the sea, 
and led them out into the wilderness of Shur. 

But during this time of the end, the representation 
of the old, and of the new, intermingled, or overlapped, 
just as the dispensations did. The former continued 
till after the escape of the Israelites, and the latter, 
representing the beginning of the New Spiritual Church, 
began when Moses first appeared on the scene, that 



THE REPRESENTATIVE CHURCH AND PEOPLE. 9 



is after he was called by the Lord. Hence during 
this intermediate period, the representation was in 
part, double, though the things represented were easily 
distinguished. The oppression endured by the im- 
prisoned spirits, in the lower earth, still continued, and 
was represented by the cruel oppression of the Israelites 
by their Egyptian task masters. And by the same op- 
pression inflicted upon the Israelites, is represented the 
suffering endured by the awakened natural man, when 
he sets out in the regenerate life, as represented by the 
journey through the wilderness. Thus the afflictions 
of those who were detained in the lower earth, and of 
those still in the flesh who are seeking deliverance from 
the bondage to sin, are represented. And while leading 
out those imprisoned spirits, through the hells, repre- 
sented by the Red Sea, was a most real transaction, it is 
just as real an occurrence when the repentant sinner in the 
natural world, is set free from the thralldom of sin. 

It has seemed necessary to make these particular state- 
ments in regard to the Exodus, that confusion may be 
avoided, in forming an opinion in regard to the repre- 
sentation of the Israelites in the wilderness journey. 
After crossing the Red Sea, they represented a Spiritual 
Church which was to be formed by the Lord after His 
coming into the world, known as the Church of the 
First Advent, or the Apostolic Church. 

The Lord's redemptive work while in the world, in 
opening the way for the salvation of the people of the 
Spiritual Church, was intimately connected with the 
people of the Ancient or Noachic Church. These, as we 



10 THE NEW CANAAN. 

have seen, could not be liberated till the incarnation and 
glorification of the Lord were accomplished ; and men in 
the natm-al world could not be redeemed, that is, broi^ght 
into states of actual liberty, till those imprisoned spirits 
were set free and organized by the Lord into a new spir- 
itual heaA^en, through which the Christian Church might 
have free and orderly influx. These two churches, as 
we are informed in the Writings, as to their internals 
''were precisely similar," though differing widely as 
to externals. (A. C. 1083.) 

Fifty days after the crucifixion, when all things in the 
spiritual world were fully ordinated, and when the dis- 
ciples in the natural world, were brought into a recep- 
tive and expectant state, the flood gates of the new 
spiritual heaven were, if I may so speak, lifted, and the 
full and mighty influx came, filhng the house where they 
were sitting, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. 

This was the inauguration of the Apostolic Church, in 
its appointed station, w^hen for the first time it mani- 
fested the true powder of an internal church, expressing 
itself through its externals, which alone constitutes a 
living church. 

And, kind reader, a similar inauguration, and or- 
derly influx from the Lord, through the New Heavens, 
organized after the Last Judgment, awaits the New and 
incoming church, w^hen all things are ready. And the 
Bridegroom will come just w^hen the Bride, the Church 
of the New Jerusalem, has made herself ready. 



II. 

TWO DISTINCT CHURCHES. THE CELESTIAL AND 
THE SPIRITUAL. 



The different and even conflicting opinions enter- 
tained among those who are somewhat acquainted with 
the writings of Swedenborg, on first thought have a 
pecuhar and rather depressing influence upon the 
thoughtful New Churchman. And yet, after due dehb- 
eration, we are led to see that this condition is only what 
we might expect in view of the great diversity of mental 
and spiritual states among the readers of New Church 
literature. Undoubtedly an important factor in the 
existing conditions is that comparatively few of our 
people have ever given the writings a careful and sys- 
tematic reading, and a smaller number still have made 
them a study. And of those who have given much 
thought to them, many have carried certain con- 
victions into their investigations, unconsciously im- 
bibed from their environments, which never came 
from the writings, though perhaps having a very con- 
siderable influence in the formation of their opinions. 
Then, as Swedenborg iterates and reiterates, the spiritual 
states of men have almost everything to do with the ac- 
ceptance or rejection of truth, we may see that differ- 
ences in various directions are inevitable. 

11 



12 THE NEW CANAAN. 

And perhaps on no other point touching the doctrines, 
do greater differences of opinion exist, than in regard to 
the New Jerusalem, and the time and manner of its de- 
scent. As this treatise will have much to say both 
in regard to the Celestial and Spiritual Church, it seems 
well in the outset to make a few plain statements in re- 
gard to them, and the existing differences between them. 

Among readers of the writings of Swedenborg, it is well 
understood that the Spiritual Church was the result of 
what we may term an accident, rather than a normal 
growth. Had the antediluvians continued in their in- 
tegrity, it is clear that there would never have been a 
Spiritual Church. But the poison of sin crept like a steal- 
thy serpent into the garden, and they fell. They began 
to think of themselves, to take delight in sensual things, 
and to look to, and trust their own self-derived intelligence, 
and to conclude that they were growing wise, and were 
able to take care of themselves. Thus gradually, through 
a long course of years, they fell away from the Lord, lost 
their love for Him and for one another, till finally as we 
read in the Bible, ' ' Every imagination of the thoughts of 
their heart was only evil continually," so evil indeed 
that they brought a great deluge of falsity and evil 
upon themselves, and multitudes literally perished and 
passed out of the earth life. A. C. 660, 806, 563. But a 
small remnant by the merciful providence of the Lord, 
were protected from total ruin. True their integrity of 
will was destroyed, so that they could not longer be re- 
generated by love, or good in the will, as in the unfallen 
state. But the merciful Lord who had said to the ser- 



TWO DISTINCT CHURCHES. 13 

pent which beguiled the woman, ' ' I will put enmity be- 
tween thee and the woman and between thy seed and her 
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his 
heel; ' ' had made provision in advance to meet this terri- 
ble crisiS; and to keep the race from total ruin, till the 
work of redemption could be accomplished. In His prov- 
idence He had caused the truth principles which were 
received by the Adamic people before they fell from their 
integrity to be committed to writing, and sacredly pre- 
served for this great emergency. And though the Noachic 
people had destroyed the will or love of good, and the 
way had been closed against influx from the Lord by an 
internal way, lest they should fall into a worse state; they 
now had this revelation of truth to guide them. And 
taking this truth, and shaping their life according to it, 
a new will was formed in the intellectual part. In other 
words, by means of the truth, conscience or the sense of 
right was formed, according to which the conduct of 
life should be regulated. And obeying the conscience, 
which enabled them to judge between right and wrong, 
the new will was gradually formed, though in a lower 
degree, enabling them to secure the good of truth, that 
is the good of the Spiritual Church. 

But this church raised up after the flood, after grow- 
ing and spreading over large portions of the earth, grad- 
ually fell into decay, and as stated in the former chapter, 
about the time of the death of Joseph, came to its end, 
when of the Israelites the mere representation of a church 
was raised up by means of which some knowledge of di- 
vine things might be kept alive till the coming of the 



14 THE XEW CANAAN. 



Lord. And when the Lord came and wrought out re- 
demption for the world, the upward progress of the race 
began. A new Spnitual Church was inaugurated, which 
though on the same plane as the Xoachic Church, had the 
advantage of that church, in the revelation contained in 
the scriptm-es of the Xew Testament. This new revela- 
tion, inclucUng the coming and glorification of the Lord, 
contains the seed truths from which a new Christian 
ChmTli is now being raised up, which when fully inau- 
gurated T\dll be on a plane of life, a discrete degree above 
the former Christian Church, that is it will be distinctly 
celestial in type. And although it will be in the same de- 
gree as the Adamic Chiu*ch, it "u-ill excel that church and 
all preceding churches, as it is cUstinctly stated in the 
Writings, in many places, that it is to be the crown of all 
the churches which have existed upon the earth, and to 
continue forever. It is not to be a mere raising up of the 
ApostoHc Church, as we sometimes hear, with truer doc- 
trines. That would simply repeat the painful experi- 
ence of the former church, and in the course of a centur}^ 
or two, would come to its end in utter desolation. The 
Spiritual Chm-ch ^ith doctrines handed down from the 
Most Ancient Chiu'ch, tried to hve, but fell into utter ruin. 
Then as the Christian Chiu*ch, ^ith truth and doctrines 
given by the Lord in person, only lived for a few centuries 
when it fell into decay, and was finally consummated a 
century and a half ago, clearly something more is needed 
than new doctrines. A new infusion of life from the 
Lord into the will, re^d^dfpng it, and opening anew the 
closed gate of influx is required, and nothing less than this 



TWO DISTINCT CHURCHES. 15 

will serve the purpose. The Spiritual Church, whatever 
doctrines it may hold, as long as it exists, must remain a 
very imperfect church, even in its best states. In it the 
highest and crowning degree of the soul remains closed. 
The spiritual man is and must, from the inherent limita- 
tions of his nature, remain a fractional man. The cor- 
respondent or representative of a spiritual Church is a 
concubine, while that of the Celestial Church is a wife. 
(See A. C. 3246.) And as we are further taught that the 
true conjugial principle can only exist with one wife, and 
not with a concubine, is it not beyond question that the 
relation of the Spiritual Church to the Lord, is imperfect 
and must ever remain so. Then it must appear that the 
Spiritual Church being in a lower degree, and having no 
influx from the Lord by the old internal way, through the 
will, can never constitute a full church, nor become the 
crowning church, the New Jerusalem, the Lamb's wife. 
But, beyond doubt, a remnant from it has been prepared 
by the Lord, with some measure of soundness of will, out 
of which He will build up a New Celestial Church. 

Then what are some of the essential characteristics of 
the Celestial Church? The Most Ancient, or Adamic 
Church was Celestial or heavenly, this name being used 
simply to express the quality of the people. They were 
indeed a heavenly people. The church with them was 
in the very form and order of the heavens, and most in- 
timately connected with them. The angelic heavens 
were the internal of the church upon earth, sustaining a 
relation to it very similar to that of the soul to the body. 
The heavens then as now were composed of angels, while 



16 THE NEW CANAAN. 

the people of the church, were by the orderly process of 
regeneration, or sphitual creation, growdng into angel- 
hood, and when the process w^as completed, without dis- 
ease or pain, the material covering, the body, was laid off 
as an outgrown garment, which could be of no further ser- 
vice to the real man, and he was raised up into the 
spiritual world, \^ith opened spiritual senses, and took 
his true place in the heaven of angels, and among his own 
spiritual kindred and friends. And the people of the 
celestial church upon the earth, were governed by the 
same heavenly principles and laws of life, as those al- 
ready in the heavens, only they were in crude material 
bodies, and on a less developed plane of life, being still of 
the Lord 's kingdom upon the earth, and in the ultimate 
of life, passing through the process of education and 
development in everything good and true, for their 
heavenly home above, for the design in creation is a 
heaven out of the human race. 

And the people of the church in its unfallen state 
lived together in the utmost peace and harmony. Good 
will, gentleness, kindness, and love everywhere pre- 
vailed. They were as one great happy family. The 
Lord was their Father, and they were brethren and sisters 
united in the sweetest and tenderest friendship and love. 
Then the demon of self-love, of envy, hatred, malice, 
love of mammon, greedy, grasping after the riches of this 
world, was imknown. There was then no mad rush after 
the treasures which moth and rust doth corrupt, and 
which thieves break through and steal, no pushing the 
weak out of the way, or crowding them to the wall, by 



TWO DISTINCT CHUECUES. 17 

the strong and unscrupulous, and then with heartless 
cruelty appropriating their possessions to their own use. 
All this was then unknown and unthought of, and had 
even the shadow of it crosssed their peaceful minds, with 
a shudder they would have turned from it, and fled to 
the Lord for protection from such atrocities. They were 
innocent as prattling children, and vied with each other 
in performing kindly services, each for all and all for each. 
And whispers have come down through the ages, that 
Jehovah their God and Father, sometimes in the cool of 
the day, walked with them, and talked with them, giving 
wise and loving counsel, that they might continue in this 
blessed state. 

Then the golden age, or the Adamic Church, may be 
taken as the universal type of a fully developed, normal 
church, as it was built up in all its beauty and complete- 
ness before the waywardness of man interposed, and 
made the great redemption a necessity. In the Adamic 
Church all the degrees of life were open, and in a state of 
heavenly order and activity. And indeed the inquiry is 
pertinent, why was man created with these three degrees 
of life, if they were not intended for use? And again, if the 
great redemption wrought out by the Lord were adequate 
to liberate men from the thralldom of sin, and to save 
them from perdition, is not the same power adequate to 
the task of liberating and raising up into soundness the 
ruined will of the spiritual man? 

The Spiritual Church proper, that is the church whose 
orderly channel of influx was closed in the days of Noah, 
so that its source of truth became external, through the 

2 



18 THE NEW CANAAN. 

bodily senses, and thence into the understanding, instead 
of the will, was clearly caused by a disorderly lapse or 
freak, on man's part, inducing abnormal conditions 
from which there could be no escape by any other method 
than that employed by the Lord in His great mercy. We 
are taught in many places in the Writings of the Lord's 
servant, Swedenborg, that the Lord came for the specific 
purpose of redeeming the spiritual man and church, and 
if so is it not clear that his redemption includes the re- 
storation of the fallen chiu"ch to a state of soundness of 
^\ill wliich makes its condition seciu"e for all coming time? 
Nothing less than this can fulfil] the promises oft re- 
peated in the Bible. Indeed more than this is im- 
plied, as a well rounded maturity is a more per- 
fect state, and more to be desired, than infantile 
innocence and perfection, however attractive and 
beautiful. And is it not questioning the power and 
efhcacy of the redemption T^TOught out by the Lord, 
in His assumed Humanity, to say that a full return 
of the himian race to the Adamic state, with all the 
treasures of msdom, and strength of character acquired 
by the bitter lessons through ages of sorrow, may not 
be reahzed? To say so, would be in effect to claim 
that the creative plan was defeated, and that the 
redemption was inadequate to meet the requirements of 
the fallen race. This would leave the world of mankind 
in a crippled condition, va\\\ no hope of improvement, 
and wotild seem to say that the Infinite Creator had 
been surprised by the fall, and had no means of averting 
the calamity. But in the Hght of the opened Word, I 



TWO DISTINCT CHURCHES. 19 

think no New Churchman would be wilHng to take such 
a position. 

The evidence as drawn from the Bible and the Writ- 
ings explaining its internal sense, seems to make it clear 
beyond question, that the Spiritual Church was raised 
up, not as a finality, but as a temporary expedient to 
fill the gap in the history of our race, from the fall till re- 
demption could be wrought out by the incarnation and 
glorification of the Lord, and thus the way prepared for 
the final and complete restoration of the world to its 
primitive and normal state. 

But the spiritual church had in itself no elements of 
vitality and progress. It was incapable of expansion and 
growth on heavenly lines, because it had placed itself 
outside the line of normal creative and regenerative in- 
flux. Furthermore, true growth could only be secured by 
the introduction into a new and higher degree. That 
will indeed take place, but it will lift the church out of the 
Spiritual and into the Celestial degree of life. But the 
Spiritual Church could serve the temporary purpose of its 
existence, which was to pave the way for the coming of 
the Lord to effect its own redemption, and to restore the 
world to spiritual order. For as Isaiah says: ''They 
shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former 
desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the 
desolations of many generations. ' ' Isa. 61, 4. That is 
the Spiritual Church could prepare the way for the re- 
establishment of the Celestial Church in heavenly order, 
and in a measure of perfection and fullness, which could 



20 THE NEW CANAAN. 

not be realized in the Most Ancient Church, else it would 
never have fallen. 

And when in the fullness of time the Lord came, assum- 
ing our humanity, and perfecting the work of redemption, 
he began to prepare the way for the restoration of our 
race to its normal state. But it was a stupendous work, 
and could not be accomplished in a day. Indeed many 
centuries had to come and go, before the restored and 
crowning church could be inaugurated with its former in- 
flux, through the will. The great work which had to be 
accomphshed was to prepare ground in which celestial 
seed could grow. The old ruined will was to be re- 
stored, and brought into such a measure of soundness 
that the old channels of influx, which were closed in 
the days of Noah, might be re-opened. This work has 
been steadily advancing ever since the beginning of the 
Christian era. And the celestial harvest now growing, 
will soon ripen as in the days of old, and the curse will be 
lifted, and rapidly sin and sorrow vAVl disappear from the 
earth. The process by means of which the Lord 's re- 
demptive and re-creative work has been steadily ad- 
vancing ever since the beginning of the Christian Church, 
in preparing the remnant out of which the New Celestial 
Church will be inaugurated, is represented in clear light, 
and in great fullness, as we shall see in the history of the 
conquest and occupancy of Canaan, under Joshua. 

But it is not claimed that this restoration will be 
effected in any very sudden or externally miraculous 
manner. This would be contrary to all we know of the 
Divine method of accomplishing the great ends in view 



TWO DISTINCT CHURCHES. 21 

in creation and redemption. But it is claimed that this 
full restoration to the original state, is included in the 
redemptive plan. And it is further claimed that means 
adequate to the end in view, have long been silently, but 
steadily at work, and that the preparation of the remnant 
out of which the Crown of all churches is to be inaugu- 
rated is almost completed. It is also claimed that this 
is distinctly taught in the representatives of the Word, in 
a manner so conclusive that the careful and unbiased stu- 
dent of the internal sense cannot fail to see it. 

One further explanatory statement before closing this 
chapter. When the term Spiritual Church is used, 
the closed church, that signified by shutting Noah in 
the Ark is meant. In other words, the people whose 
will was destroyed in the days of Noah are meant. This 
includes particularly the Ancient Church, and the Apos- 
tolic Church. These two in quality were '^ precisely 
similar" (A. C. 1083), though differing widely in ex- 
ternals. The terms spiritual. Spiritual Church, spiritual 
man, and spiritual kingdom, &c., are so often used in the 
writings, and with such various modifications of mean- 
ing, that this specific statement seems necessary to pre- 
vent confusion of thought, and misunderstanding of the 
meaning intended. 



HI. 

JOSHUA AND SWEDENBORG-THE TYPE AND 
THE ANTITYPE. 



The children of Israel in their journey through the 
wilderness, on the way to Canaan, among Christian peo- 
ple, have generally been recognized as representing the 
Christian Church, on the way from earth to the heavenly 
Canaan. The writings of Swedenborg while recognizing 
this general significance of the journey as true, show con- 
clusively that the progress of one dispensation of the 
church, to another and higher one, is distinctly repre- 
sented. And these writings further show that the ter- 
mination of this journey in the miraculous crossing of 
the Jordan, represents the end of one dispensation and 
the beginning of a new and higher one. 

When Moses led the Israelites to the camp near 
the Jordan, and, by pivine command, commissioned 
Joshua to lead them across the river, into the promised 
land, it is clear that a distinctly new state of the church 
is represented. Let us inquire then for the representa- 
tion of Joshua the leader, appointed by the Lord 's com- 
mand. In his official position as leader of Israel, as we 
are informed in the writings of the Swedish seer, Joshua 
represents truth combatting. That is he represents 
truth from the Lord, through His Word, fighting against 

22 



I 



JOSHUA AND SWEDENBOBG. 23 

the falses and evils of the consummated church, and 
overcoming them. Then in the Hght of the open Word, 
we need not go far to find the divinely commissioned 
, Leader, who was represented by Joshua, and who sus- 
tains a relation to the incoming New Church correspond- 
ing to that which Joshua sustained to Israel in crossing 
the Jordan, and destroying the old inhabitants, and 
taking possession of Canaan. 

Swedenborg, the antitype of Joshua, in like manner 
was specially called by the Lord, and commissioned 
to open for the church and the world, the internal 
sense of the Bible. In this new revelation of the divine 
truth from the Word, we may see the angel with drawn 
sword, who presented himself to Joshua as the Cap- 
tain of the host of the Lord, that is he was the Angel of 
the Lord, and represented the Lord. Let us carefully 
note the representative force of the language used. It 
is said Joshua was by Jericho. In a good sense, as the 
name is here used, Jericho signifies instruction. He 
lifted up his eyes, and looked, signifying that he was in a 
receptive, and inquiring state of mind, and wanted to 
know the truth. And to one in such a state, the truth 
always presents itself, or rather is presented by the Lord. 
Hence when he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold there 
stood a man over against him. We may read it thus. 
He lifted up the eyes of his understanding to spiritual 
and heavenly things, and looked. He was in an earnest 
and inquiring state of mind, and voluntarily put forth 
effort that he might see and know, and looking, he saw 
the man who had placed himself there on purpose that 



24 THE NEW CANAAN. 

Joshua might see him. The man, that is the angel of the 
Lord, represents the truth of the Word, whose services 
are offered, to lead Israel, or the people who were repre- 
sented by Israel, in the war against falsity and evil. He 
held in his hand a drawn sword, which signifies the truth 
of the Bible, now opened or revealed. The hand that 
grasps the sword signifies power — ^the power of these 
truths, thus revealed, and ready for use in the great war 
against falsity and evil. It is not cold and hard truth as 
held merely in the understanding. It is li^dng truth, 
' ^ quick and powerful. " It is truth filled wth life, which 
is love in an intensely active state, and combatting every 
foe of God and man. 

Now seeing and understanding this representative les- 
son, so simple, so beautiful, and in the light of what we 
know of the great Seer, so unmistakably setting forth his 
call, which was not less miraculous than that of Joshua, 
and taking into consideration his prompt obedience, and 
his enlightenment, who can fail to see him in his true 
character, as servant of the Lord, and the herald of a new 
age? Joshua by representation was truth combatting. 
In that capacity he led Israel to unfailing victory in 
every case while they were obedient to his command, and 
kept themselves from transgression. He and the host of 
Israel were commanded to destroy the cities of the land, 
and their evil inhabitants, who represented the false doc- 
trines and evils of life of the consummated church. And 
the Joshua of the New Church, the antitype of the 
former, was called to open the truth which had lain 
concealed within the letter of the Word for ages, 



JOSHUA AND SWEDENBOBG. 25 

making it available for the remnant preserved from 
the consummated Christian Church, out of which 
a New Church was to be raised up. Taking this 
drawn sword, the heavenly truths revealed from the 
Word for their use, those represented by Joshua and 
the Israelities, are to be instrumental in scattering 
the false doctrines and evils which have grown up in 
the church of the first Advent. Every false doctrine 
may be aptly represented as a city with walls constructed 
by taking truths from the Word, so falsified as to seem 
to support the false doctrine it is made to defend. 
In this way the true doctrines of the former church 
were utterly falsified. The devastation and consumma- 
tion of the former church were fully accomplished about 
the middle of the eighteenth century. All the fruitful 
fields of the Apostolic Church were laid waste, and utter 
ruin prevailed over all, save the little remnant which was 
to constitute the nucleus from which the New Church was 
to be inaugurated. 

About this time Swedenborg was called and illumin- 
ated for his great work, and began to publish to the world 
the doctrines for the New Church, all drawn from the 
Word, and confirmed by its literal sense, and at the same 
time to unfold its inner sense for the use of all coming 
ages. Volume after volume was published and sent out, 
as truth combatting to destroy the prevailing false doc- 
trines, and to uncover the dire evils in society which 
threatened the total extermination of our race. 

But it does not come within our present purpose to 
dwell particularly upon the conflict which this newly re- 



2© THE NEW CANAAN. 

vealed truth has introduced into the Christian world, and 
is conducting with marked success at the present time. 
The special object in view is simply to call attention to 
the parallel between Joshua the representative and Swe- 
denborg the represented, as evidence clear and conclu- 
sive, that the part of the Word included in this history 
of Joshua, in its representative and prophetic significa- 
tion, has relation directly to the passing away of the 
first Christian Church, and the introduction of the New 
Church, which is very fully described in the Apocalypse 
as the heavenly city, the bride, and the Lamb's wife. 

The ministers and people of the New Church have gen- 
erally seemed to view the apocalyptic revelation of John 
as the altogether adequate description of the coming 
church and age. And indeed it Ls the only available de- 
scription which has been fully interpreted by Swedenborg. 
But it treats chiefly of the last general judgment effected 
upon the Christian Church in the spiritual world, and the 
mere preparation for the introduction of the New Church 
upon earth. But as to the church, apart from this 
bright and beautiful description of the descent of the 
heavenly city, the Apocalypse is silent. Doubtless this 
was all that the New Church in its introductory state 
required, or could be benefited by understanding. Hence 
the revelation of John, doubtless covered the entire 
ground required by the church in its preparatory 
stages — all that could be of service before its full inau- 
guration, and the same may be said of the explanations 
of Swedenborg. The church did not need an explana- 
tion of states so far in the future as to be of no present 



JOSHUA AND 8WEDENB0RG. 27 

advantage, and they were not given in this part of the 
Word, which entered into the minute particulars in re- 
gard to the Last Judgment in the spiritual world, and the 
rapidly changing states of the church on earth, but sim- 
ply referred to the descent of the Heavenly City, without 
entering into particulars in regard to the order of its 
growth. I think it may be truthfully said that the 
Apocalypse treats exclusively of the period of time 
termed the time of the end. This period covers the 
interval, beginning with the first active movements in 
the spiritual world in preparation for the Last Judgment, 
and closes, not with the descent of the Heavenly City, 
which is the doctrines for the New Church, but with the 
inauguration of the crown of the churches, in its ap- 
pointed station. See A. R. 547 and 562. That inau- 
guration is the filling of these heavenly doctrines, a^ 
received and held in the understanding of those constitut- 
ing the prepared ^'remnant," with the copious influx of 
Celestial love from the Lord — the doctrines and love, all 
from the Lord, joined in the indissoluble union of good 
and truth in the life. This is the marriage of the Lord 
and his church, and is the church restored in receptive 
souls, to the original and normal state of celestial life. 
And here is the point where this intermediate state, the 
time of the end and the beginning, closes with the full in- 
auguration of the glorious church which shall endure for- 
ever ; and this is as far as the Apocalyptic visions of John 
open the states of the coming church ; and this is as far as 
the New Church in this introductory and doctrinal state 
needed instruction. But it is certain that further and 



28 THE NEW CANAAN. 

fuller states of growth, and of extension from the pres- 
ent Christian centers, throughout the whole inhabitable 
world, are definitely set forth by the prophets in many 
places — and most distinctly in the internal sense of the 
historical book of Joshua. And indeed we may safely 
say that there are exhaustless mines of Divine Truth, 
covered up imder the symbols of the letter, which will 
be opened to the world just as fast and fully as they 
are needed, but no faster. 

Then the inquiry may arise, ''If there are mines of 
truth concealed beneath the letter of the Word, why did 
not Swedenborg open them all, that the whole world 
might see the heavenly treasures they contain? '^ The 
answer is simple. The Word is Infinite. The divinely 
constructed symbols of the written Word — the Bible, are 
channels through which Divine Truth from the Eternal 
Word flows down to men in exhaustless fullness, to 
supply every possible need, according to every one's re- 
ceptivity. To suppose any man or angel to see and 
be able to open to men all the truths of the internal 
sense, would be to make that man's or that angel's 
knowledge of the Word equal to that of the Divine Mind, 
a thought not to be entertained for a moment, for the 
internal sense of the Written Word is the Eternal and 
Ever Living Word, to be approached with trembling 
reverence and awe. 

The Lord has made new revelations of truth, from 
time to time, as the world has needed them, and has been 
able and willing to receive them. And when he has had 
a message to deliver. He has always had a prepared mes- 



JOSHUA AND SWEDENBOBG. 29 

senger ready and able to deliver it. Thus when the first 
dispensation of the Christian Church was consummated, 
and the time for the last Judgment in the spiritual 
world, and for the raising up of a new dispensation, was 
at hand. He had a servant fully prepared to deliver the 
great message to the church and the world. That ser- 
vant — Swedenborg — having been specially raised up and 
prepared for that particular mission, was ready at once to 
enter upon it. He proclaimed the coming of the Lord to 
establish a New Church. He gave the internal sense con- 
nectedly, of the first two books of Moses, and of the 
Apocalypse, as received from the Lord, while he was 
reading the Word. He also proclaimed the doctrines as 
given by the Lord for the use of the New Church about 
to be established. And that he might accomplish this 
work, the key which opens the internal sense of the 
Word was discovered to him, and through him, handed 
down to the church, as a means of access to the hidden 
meaning for all coming time. And using this key 
which opens the secret treasures of the Word, the Lord 's 
servants may and will open just such truths as are 
needed from time to time as the years and centuries 
move on. For in the upward trend of the church, 
beyond question, there will be times when new truths 
will be required for the uses of the expanding church, 
which could neither have been received nor used at an 
earlier time. And truth in infinite fullness is stored 
up in the Word, and when needed, the Lord will always 
have men who can use the key which unlocks His 
treasure house. 



30 THE NEW CANAAN. 

In accordance with the principles just stated, we 
now assure the reader that a full revelation of the 
growth and development of the New Church, on all 
celestial lines, is made in the internal sense of the 
plain literal history, as it stands in the book of Joshua, 
which may be seen by any one who has made himself 
familiar with the representative meaning. But in this 
history the last Judgment which is so minutely de- 
scribed in the Apocalypse, is only lightly touched upon. 
And Swedenborg makes only a few very brief explana- 
tions of the book of Joshua, except in one place, the 
turning back of the waters of the Jordan, where the 
explanation is at some length. 

But it must be evident to any one who gives careful 
attention to the representative meaning of this historical 
book, that when Swedenborg wrote, the time had not 
come when its explanation was needed, as it treats 
principally of the developing states of the New Celestial 
Church after it has reached '4ts appointed station'' 
referred to in A. R. 547 and 562. But it now seems 
clear that these widely separated parts of the Word 
should be studied together, if one would gain a clear and 
comprehensive view of the introduction and development 
of the crowning church, from its incipient stages till it 
is rounded out into the fully developed kingdom of the 
Lord. And it is well to bear in mind the fact that 
neither individual men, nor the church as a body, can 
understand the nature of a distinctive^ new movement, 
which marks an upward step, or degree, into a higher 
plane, till that discrete step is about to be taken, and 



JOSHUA AND SWEDENBOBG. 31 

the border of that new state is being approached. The 
natural man cannot understand the spiritual man, and 
the thoughts and experiences peculiar to spiritual life, 
and like Nicodemus, says ''How can these things be? " 
Neither can the Spiritual man or the Spiritual church, 
understand the Celestial man and church. And in 
view of human limitations in this respect, men being 
able to comprehend only the things peculiar to their 
own plane of life, and those pecuUar to lower planes, 
through which they have passed, is it strange that 
great obscurity should exist in the church of to-day 
which is still on the distinctively Spiritual plane, in 
regard to the coming Celestial Church, and that much 
skepticism should exist as to the possibility of the 
world's ever attaining true celestial conditions? 

Swedenborg teaches that each advent of the Lord 
to estabHsh a new church, is attended by conditions 
similar to those prevailing at any former advent. That 
is, there is always a judgment upon the former church, 
and a new revelation of truth, made for the church 
about to be organized. At the first advent of the 
Lord, the new revelation of truth made for the Christian 
Church, was on a higher plane or in a higher degree, 
than the revelation of the Law, made by Moses for the 
Israelites as a people. Hence the sayings of the Lord 
as addressed to the Jews, were enigmas as the rule, 
not at all understood by them. The gospels are full 
of evidence that the Lord's own disciples, who were 
under His personal instructions for three years, had no 
adequate conception of His kingdom, or of the spiritual 



32 THE NEW CANAAN. 

truth He taught, at the time. Even after His resur- 
rection we hear the be'udlclered disciples say, ''Lord 
^ilt thou at this time, restore again the kingdom to 
Israel? " Though the Lord in plainest language had told 
them, time and again, that His kingdom was not of 
this world, but within them, yet they understood Him 
not. The thought of a hteral kingdom so occupied 
their minds, that there was no room for any conception 
of a kingdom within them. But when the promised 
Spirit of Truth came, and they were endowed ^dth 
power from on high, — ^that is, when they received the 
special influx of Spiritual life, which was to characterize 
the Christian Church, and to clothe the disciples with 
spiritual power, — then for the first, they understood, 
for they felt Vkithin their own souls, the pulsing life of 
the promised kingdom. In other words, a new degree 
of life was consciously opened within them, and they 
were able to understand the words which the Lord 
had spoken to them, and were at once ready to go forth 
in obecUence to the Di^-ine commission they had re- 
ceived, preaching the gospel to ever}' creature. But 
prior to their reception of the Holy Spirit, they were 
not to blame because they were unable to understand 
the Lord's words. It was impossible for them to 
understand things which belonged in a world into which 
they had not yet been born. 

And the condition of the disciples of the Lord in 
His Second Advent is similar. The heavenly truths 
opened from the Word, for the church which was 
about to come, were on the spiritual plane, and 



JOSHUA AND SWEDENBOBG. 33 

addressed to spiritual men. But that this spiritual 
truth was to be wedded to celestial love, or good in 
a higher degree, in the formation of the New and crown- 
ing church, seems to have been very generally over- 
looked by the receivers of the new doctrines. As the 
early disciples were familiar with the natural, and 
loved it, and could not take in the meaning of the Lord's 
words relative to a spiritual kingdom within them, so 
the disciples of the Lord in His Second Advent, under- 
stand what a spiritual kingdom is, and the language 
peculiar to it. But having in their minds only a per- 
ception of Spiritual truth, and of a spiritual church, 
with its elaborate externals, and loving these things 
with which they had always been familiar, they very 
naturally thought of such external forms of organiza- 
tion, and worship, with the true doctrines as formu- 
lated by Swedenborg as constituting the veritable New 
Jerusalem. But after all, its essential characteristics 
are those of the spiritual church, simply having new 
and true doctrines, instead of those of the consum- 
mated church. The manna, representing the good of 
the Spiritual church, still falls, and is our principal 
food. But when the morrow comes, then ^'The manna 
shall cease, and the old corn of the land, unleavened 
cakes, and parched corn, in the self same day" shall 
become our daily food. Then the church shall come 
^'To its appointed station, that is till it exists as has 
been provided that it should.'^ 



lY. 
PREPARING VICTUALS. JOHN WESLEY. 



After the death of Moses, with the beginning of 
Joshua's leadership, the Israehtes entered upon a dis- 
tinctively new representation. From the beginning of 
the journey, through all the forty years in the wilder- 
ness, they represented the Spiritual Church. But the 
representation having come to the end of that church, 
they at once began a distinctively new representation. 
First they represented the transition from the old to 
the new, including the judgment upon the consummated 
church, as represented by the Jordan overflowing all 
its banks in time of harvest. Then they represented 
the beginning and progress of a new church, in the 
higher celestial degree of life. That this new represen- 
tation takes place is shown beyond doubt in the char- 
acteristics ascribed to the people, which are clearly 
of the celestial order, that is, represent celestial things. 
Conclusive evidence of this will be shown further on. 

When Joshua took command, he instructed the 
officers of the people to pass through the host and 
command them to prepare victuals, as within three 
days they were to pass over the Jordan and take pos- 
session of the promised land. 

The term victuals literally means prepared food — 

34 



PREPARING VICTUALS. 35 

food made ready for eating. This order was given 
because they were in three days to pass over into 
Canaan. The three days before starting signify a full 
state of preparation for passing through the judgment, 
and for receiving the New truths which would guide 
them into the New Church. This command as to its 
representative meaning, and as addressed to the Israel- 
ites, signifies the preparation of the remnant preserved 
from the apostolic church, out of which the formation 
of the New Christian church is to begin. To prepare 
victuals, means to come into states of good, such as 
are required as a preparation for receiving the new 
revelation of truth, as opened in the spiritual sense of 
the Word. This preparation as an introduction has 
been necessary at the beginning of every new dis- 
pensation. 

John the Baptist came to prepare the remnant from 
the Jewish Church, out of which the Christian Church 
was to be raised up and prepared to receive the higher 
revelation of truth made by the Lord in person. John 
came teaching no new doctrines, simply the truths of 
Judaism, and exhorting the people to repent and to 
bring forth fruits mete for repentance, that was to 
bring into their lives the highest good with which they 
were acquainted, which was the good of the Jewish 
Church. This was all that was required of them to 
prepare the way of the Lord, and for the introduction of 
Christianity. And it is worthy of note that the Lord's 
disciples were mostly if not all chosen from the ranks 
of John's disciples. And we may conclude that they 



36 THE NEW CANAAN. 

were such of John's disciples as had brought forth fruits 
mete for repentance. They had prepared victuals — 
states of genuine Jewish good, and were ready to have 
the water of natural truth changed into the wine of 
spiritual truth. 

And when the state of the Christian Church is con- 
sidered, about the middle of the eighteenth century, 
at the time Swedenborg began to write the Arcana 
Coelestia, the importance of this preparatory work, 
accomplished by the great revival of spiritual Chris- 
tianity, under the leadership of John Wesley, as rep- 
resented by the preparation of victuals, just before 
crossing the Jordan, cannot be overestimated. To 
say that the church was dead, fails to convey any 
adequate idea of the extent of its deadness. An ex- 
amination into its manifest condition, as to particulars, 
alone could reveal its utter desolation. But space will 
not admit of such examination here. I must content 
myself with a very few statements, and that without 
gi^dng historical quotations. 

All church history of the times referred to, as far as 
I have seen, agrees in the statement that the church 
as a body was utterly dead, not merely in the sense 
of apathy as to spiritual things, but corruption and 
vice of every kind prevailed among all classes to an 
astounding extent. Exceptions there were, which alone 
constituted the preserving salt. Otherwise no remnant 
could have been preserved, and prepared, out of which 
to raise up the New Church. Even the clergy as the 
rule were not only devoid of true piety, and spirituahty, 



PREPARING VICTUALS. 37 

but in many cases were openly profligate, much more 
given to drinldng, swearing, and fox hunting, than to 
the study of the Word, and the performance of the 
duties connected with their holy office. Among the 
masses very few even possessed a copy of the Bible, or 
received any life instruction from its sacred pages, or 
from any other source. In short, at the time John 
Wesley began his distinctively revival work, no such 
thing was known in Christendom as a Bible society to 
spread the Word, a missionary society to send out the 
gospel minister, a Sunday school to instruct the young, 
or a prayer meeting to keep alive the spirit of devotion 
in the church. Now what could Swedenborg with his 
voluminous writings have done towards promulgating 
the true doctrines of the Word, and introducing the 
church of the Second Advent, while these conditions 
prevailed? What could the ablest exponents of the 
New Church in England have done, had they by some 
mistake been sent out among the people to raise 
up true Christianity, instead of John Wesley and his 
coadjutors? The very thought of such an effort is 
absurd. No, John must first come, crying repent ye 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and bring forth 
therefore fruits mete for repentance.. And now also 
the ax is laid unto the root of the tree ; therefore every 
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down 
and cast into the fire. The necessity for these pre- 
paratory dispensations, to awaken the people into the 
full and active life of the former dispensation, as a 
preparation for receiving the doctrines and life of the 



38 THE NEW CANAAN. 

New Church is so fully set forth in the Word, that all 
doubtless are ready to adroit it. Victuals must be pro- 
vided. States of good adequate to the occasion, and 
fully up to the standard of the former church, in its 
best daj^s, alone can prepare the people for so great a 
change. 

Joshua communicated this command to the officers 
of the people, saying '^ pass through the host, and com- 
mand the people, saying prepare you \dctuals, for mthin 
three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go to 
possess the land which the Lord your God giveth 3^ou 
to possess it." Marvelous indeed is the accuracy with 
which these few words in the letter, represent this 
preparatory work. To those acquainted mth it, the 
whole history of the movement at once stands in bold 
outhne, when the representative meaning is seen. And 
in such clear light does it stand, that there is no rational 
ground for doubt. In the Hteral command, the officers 
of the people were to go through the host — the great 
multitude of people — and by word give the order. There 
must have been a large number of these officers to com- 
municate the order to all the three million people sup- 
posed to be in the camp. How accurately these officers 
represent the early Wesleyan movement with its httle 
army of itinerants, in ceaseless motion, penetrating 
the darkest lanes, the most forbidding slums, and byw^ays 
in the city, and \dsiting the remotest rural hamlet in 
all the land. And wherever they went, they left 
an active force of under officers, local preachers, 
exhorters, class-leaders and stewards. By these the 



PREPARING VICTUALS. 39 

work was kept alive, multitudes heard the simple 
story of the gospel, and hundreds were awakened 
to a vivid sense of their lost condition, repented, were 
converted, and at once took up their cross and began 
to follow the Lord in the regeneration. Whole 
communities, seeming to be given over to all manner 
of evil doing, and utterly unconcerned in regard to all 
spiritual things, were often entirely revolutionized, 
many of them becoming upright and God-fearing men 
and women. 

Now these awakened multitudes were not, as they 
supposed, instantaneously regenerated. That would be 
contrary to all Divine order, and utterly impossible. 
But many of them were soundly converted to God, 
and at once entered upon the true regenerate life, 
carefully shunning sin, and striving to discharge faith- 
fully the duties of the Christian life. They had no 
great store of truth in their memory, and even the 
little they had, was largely only apparent truth, as 
drawn from the letter of the Word, but it was often so 
filled with love to God and man, that they developed 
most noble Christian lives. 

It has often been objected by those who have 
some knowledge of the new truth which has been 
opened to the world, that Wesley and his coadjutors 
were rooted and grounded in the falses of the con- 
summated church. But this view is the result of im- 
perfect knowledge of these men and their work. That 
they assented, in a passive way, to the old doctrines 
which had been handed down to them through dark 



40 THE NEW CANAAN. 

centuries, is true. But it is clear that they were 
not called by the Lord to teach new truth, but rather 
to apply the small amount of practical and vital truth, 
which had come to them through the benighted state 
of the church, to the conscience, thus calling the careless 
people to repentance. That they did this faithfully, 
and most successfully, need not be repeated. And it 
should be understood that at the time the Wesleyan 
movement began, a few years before Swedenborg began 
to write, the old doctrines were not in controversy, 
were not questions then exciting investigation. These 
men concerned themselves only with the simple prac- 
tical questions of vital Christianity. And, never more 
earnestly and persistingly did a New Church minister 
urge the necessity of shunning sin and living up to one's 
highest convictions, than did these early reformers. 
Mr. Wesley while seeming to assent to the deadly 
falsity of salvation by faith alone, virtually denied it, 
and destroyed its evil effects, by asserting that faith 
must be accompanied by good works, or a good Ufe, 
else it becomes of no avail. But he and his followers 
taught clearly and forcibly the essential principles in- 
volved in the Doctrine of Life, as taught by Swedenborg. 
But cold doctrinal teaching was entirely out of the line 
of work they were called to do. Their mission was to 
provide '^victuals," not water nor wine. In other 
words, to awaken the people to the consciousness that 
they were sinners, and to the necessity of forsaking sin 
and leading good lives, was their divinely appointed 
work. This was the essential pre-requisite to the re- 



PREPARING VICTUALS. 41 

ception of the higher forms of truth required for the 
coming church. The instruction in truth was to come 
later, after the way had been prepared for its reception. 

The great Providential use which was served by the 
Wesleyan movement is clearly indicated by the fact 
that the early receivers of the doctrines taught by 
Swedenborg, were largely disciples of Wesley, or at 
least had come under the influence of the great revival 
of Christianity originating with him. And the same 
may be said of the early New Church ministers in 
England, who were active in the organization of the 
church, as well as in proclaiming the gospel of the 
Second Advent. They were largely called from among 
the disciples of Wesley, as the Lord's disciples were 
chosen from among the disciples of John. 

To the efficiency of this preparatory work, I am con- 
strained to bear personal testimony. I was raised a 
Methodist. I was not taught much doctrine, but was 
taught by precept and example the duty of reading 
the Bible, and of daily praying to the Lord for help 
to overcome my evils, and to live a true Christian life, 
which to me meant being saved from secret sins, as 
well as from overt or outward sins. I was also taught 
to seek and expect a change of heart, and to receive 
an internal witness of the Spirit, or consciousness that 
I was born from above. And in great mercy I was 
permitted to realize these expectations. When about 
twenty-five years old, I became a Methodist itinerant. 
After five or six years, I began to feel a great defect of 
truth, not only as a means of teaching others, but for 



42 THE NEW CANAAN. 

my own personal needs. I was parched with spu*itual 
thirst, but knew not where to find the waters of life, 
such as I needed. At this point, I met that good 
man, Rev. Abial Silver. He taught me where to look 
for living water. He gave me a few books. I read 
them with intense delight, and took in the doctrines of 
the New Jerusalem, freely as the parched earth takes 
in the copious rain. I saw that they were true, and 
after nearly forty years have come and gone, and 
after I have given them much careful study and thought, 
I still see them to be true. And now I look back to 
the time of my reading and accepting the doctrines with 
profound gratitude; and for this easy and delightful 
reception of the teachings of the Lord, through his 
servant Swedenborg, I am indebted to the '^victuals" 
which were provided under my early Methodist teach- 
ings, and home surroundings. And what, under the 
Lord, has been done for me, I am sure has been done 
for thousands of others, now in the heavens above, or 
else in the church on the earth. 

In this connection it should be borne in mind 
that both in England and in the United States, many 
were quickened into nearness of life by the Wesleyan 
movement who never became personally connected 
with that body, but took up the same line of work in 
the church with which they happened to be in connec- 
tion. Till within the last fifty years, as far as I have 
been able to learn, the great majority of ministers who 
served the church so faithfully, and were instrumental 
in doing so much good, received the spiritual impulse 



PREPARING VICTUALS. 43 

which called them into the whitened fields, either 
directly or indirectly from this same preparatory in- 
fluence, sent out by the Lord to prepare the way for 
His coming. And among the active and successful 
ministers, in the work in this country at the present 
time, a considerable number came from the ministry of 
the Methodist Church. 

But the introduction of the doctrines of the New 
Church is a slow and tedious process, and consequently 
this preparatory work has been continued side by side 
with the active promulgation of New Church truth. 
Much of it is being done continually by the various 
churches around us, while now and then, specially 
endowed and prepared men are doing it, perhaps as 
effectually as it was done by Mr. Wesley himself. As 
an illustration I would call attention to the work of 
the late Mr. Moody. His mission in many respects was 
very much like that of Mr. Wesley. The same crude 
doctrines were adhered to, but they were overshadowed 
and largely hidden from sight by the veritable living 
gospel, filled with the vitalizing Spirit of Truth, which, 
even as infilling very imperfect doctrinal formulas, 
has a thousand times more power than even the lucid 
truth forms of the New Church, when given forth cold 
as icicles, and left to fall into snow-covered ground, 
where it is impossible for the seed to grow and yield a 
fruitful harvest. 



T. 

THE REUBENITES, THE GADITES, AND THE HALF 

TRIBE OF MANASSEH. ORDERED TO THE 

FRONT BY JOSHUA. 



After the command had been given for the people to 
prepare victuals, and be ready to cross over the Jordan 
mthin three days, Joshua charged the Reubenites, the 
Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, to remember 
the promise they had made to Moses when they received 
their inheritance, that they with all the mighty men of 
valor would pass before their brethren, and help them 
until the Lord gave them rest. In view of their repre- 
sentation, this was a most important arrangement. 

The Reubenites in this case denote faith in the 
standing, the Gadites signify the good of hfe, or use, 
and Manasseh represents spiritual good in the natural, 
or the new will principle in the natural (A. C. 5351). 
This language in regard to Manasseh, indicates that in 
the state here represented, the new will is brought 
down into the natural man, and has become the ruling 
principle in the external man and life. To bring down 
the internal spiritual into the natural man, ultimating 
it in all the activities of life on this lowest plane, is the 
essential and practical work of regeneration. Jesus 
saith: ^' He that is washed needeth not save to wash his 

44 



ORDERED TO THE FRONT. 45 

feet, but is clean every whit" (John 13, 10). The 
representation of Manasseh contains important instruc- 
tion, that is it signifies the removal of both hereditary 
and actual evil. But this will be considered in another 
place. 

These three tribes, when considered together, represent 
essentially the same thing as the three disciples, Peter, 
James and John, who always accompanied the Lord 
when he was out among the multitudes, healing the 
sick, giving sight to the blind, and raising up the dead. 
Peter represented faith, or truth originating in good, 
James represented charity or love, and John the works 
of charity, that is love in act. These three represent 
the essentials of the church, and there can be no church 
when either one is wanting. And as the Lord required 
their presence, that is, faith, love, and good works among 
His disciples in order that He might carry on His 
work of saving men and building up His church, so it 
was essential that those who represented the Lord, in 
passing over the Jordan, should be present and active. 
These leaders, or essentials, must fill their true place, 
standing firm at the post of duty, or all the host would 
be scattered, and failure would be the result. These 
mighty men of valor must lead. With the forty thou- 
sand armed for battle, they must march in the front, 
inspiring confidence in all the host, as well as spreading 
terror in the ranks of the enemy. And the supremacy 
and majesty, and I may say Omnipotence of these 
cardinal Christian principles, could not have been more 
accurately and impressively dramatized than when the 



46 THE NEW CANAAN. 

mighty men of valor from these three tribes placed 
themselves at the head of all the great multitude, saying 
unto Joshua, ''all that thou commandest us we will 
do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go." 

Now the natural man can stand firm and assume a 
defiant attitude when he knows that he is stronger and 
better equipped than his enemy. He may even be 
eager to exhibit his valor in marching upon his enemy 
and opening the battle. But here we find men standing 
firm and obedient to every order, without any of the 
grounds of assurance which the natural man seeks. 
They are about to attempt to cross the Jordan, a rapid 
stream, out of its banks and spreading over all the low- 
lands, which to the man without faith, seems to threaten 
death to any one who should attempt to cross it. And 
just beyond, probably in plain sight, is Jericho, a city 
with high and strong walls, inclosing and protecting a 
great multitude, who stand ready to defend their city 
and homes. And still a little way beyond, stand 
numerous strong cities, with great armies ready to hurl 
back the invader. And these three companies, repre- 
senting faith in God, love to men and active good works 
in behalf of all the world, stand imdaunted, nor hesi- 
tate to pledge obedience — absolute obedience to every 
command. Truly the exhibition is sublime, and shows 
that these cardinal principles of the Lord's kingdom, 
firmly held, and faithfully practiced, lead the man and 
the church unto the serene heights where no power of 
falsity and evil can molest. From such manifestations 
of unquestioning faith in God, and love for all that is 



ORDERED TO THE FRONT. 47 

pure and good, expressed in loving deeds for others, 
evil spirits and devils flee awa}^ in utmost consterna- 
tion, and hide in the caverns of darkness. 

This is the faith and spirit needed by the Christian 
Israel, which is now being marshalled, and provided 
with victuals — states of good in the life, and thus made 
ready to move on, and to take possession of the Celestial 
Canaan, which is as definitely promised as was the old 
Canaan to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to the 
children of Israel, and as certain to be realized in the 
near future. All the existing conditions point with 
unerring certainty to the consummation of the old 
selfish and inhuman state of society now prevailing all 
over Christendom, and to the introduction of true 
Christianity, first in the remnant prepared by the 
Lord for the purpose, which is now concealed amid 
the spiritual wastes and desolations everywhere pre- 
vaihng, but which will line up for the forward move- 
ment, when the time comes, and touched by the new 
influx now pressing down, but restrained till all things 
are ready, will march in solid phalanx through the 
Jordan of falsity and evil, and rapidly make the conquest 
of the land. 

The prepared remnant, now invisible and unknown, 
when the New influx from the Lord through the old 
channels is restored, will move rapidly forward, acquiring 
new power and momentum as the celestial influx passes 
down from the internal centers through the re-opened 
and re-vivified soul to the ultimate life^ and thus out 
into the world. And multitudes among the existing 



48 THE NEW CANAAN. 

churches, and from the agnostic outside world, in 
whom some remains may be found, will gladly fall 
into line, swelling the numbers, and increasing the power 
of the heavenly movement. The great mammon-wor- 
shiping and atheistic multitude will look on in blank 
amazement, utterly bewildered by a movement which 
to them is incomprehensible. For a time they will 
stand aghast, and then judging from the manifestations 
of human nature in the past, they will oppose, and in 
every possible way try to check, the movement, but in 
vain. 

Now the natural Canaan was taken by the Israelites 
not by their extraordinary bravery and skill in war on 
the natural plane, but simply by wisdom inspired in 
their leader to guide every movement, and by the 
manifest influx of supernatm*al power, which in harmony 
with their obedience, came upon them, flowing into 
every orderly movement, and giving them complete 
success. 

The representatives of the Israelites, when they were 
obedient to the commands received, were filled with 
power against their enemies, and even over natural 
things which stood in the waj^ This power over material 
things was wonderfully exhibited on various occasions 
on the journey from Egypt to Canaan. The waters of 
the Red Sea divided, giving them a safe passage to the 
other shore. Then they returned to their place, over- 
whelming Pharaoh and the Egyptians. When they came 
to the bitter waters of Marah, which they could not 
drink, the wood of a certain tree healed the waters, and 



ORDERED TO THE FRONT. 49 

they drank and were satisfied. When they hungered 

for flesh, quail in great abundance fell in the camp in 

the evening, and manna in the morning. When the 

Amalekites made battle against them Moses' hands 

were held up, and Israel prevailed. When the host 

was parched with thirst at Horeb, the smitten rock 

gave forth water in abundance. And thus through all 

the journey, while they were obedient to the Lord's 

commands, even external nature was made to minister 

to their needs, and to stand for their defence in the hour 

of danger. And thus it was after taking the land. 

While obedient to the Lord, they reaped abundant 

harvests, and had prosperity in all their borders. It 

was thus through all the four hundred years while they 

were imder the Judges. They enjoyed an ideal state 

of peace and plenty and worldly prosperity, the promised 

reward of obedience. 

Then if obedience on their part brought victory in 

war, and peace and natural prosperity, which was 

all that had been promised, or that they desired, is it 

too much for the Christian Israel, seeking spiritual 

blessings, heavenly quahties of character, purity from 

all the defilements of sin, the restoration of the will 

to soundness, and to have all the faculties of the soul 

brought into such order as to respond at once to every 

heavenly impulse — is it too much to expect with the 

confidence of little children, full deliverance from the 

powers of darkness, and the realization of every desired 

heavenly good? Would the task be more difficult, or 

would it require a more extraordinary manifestation of 
4 



oO THE NEW CANAAN. 

power on the part of the Lord, to lead the humble and 
receptive heart into heavenly order, and to make the 
life even here in the natural world to correspond with 
the activities of the angels in heaven, than it did to 
work out all these miracles of deliverance for the Israel- 
ites on the natural plane? And is not the representa- 
tion on the natural plane, of these richer and higher 
spiritual blessings, a direct and unquestionable prophecy 
and promise, that all the corresponding blessings on 
the spiritual plane, shall as certainly and as fully be 
fulfilled? This supposition is scriptural beyond all 
reasonable doubt, and it is in harmony with the views 
freely expressed in the writings of the church. Sweden- 
borg tells us of two or three persons in his day, when 
the church was in its lowest state, who were so fully 
regenerated in this life that they were raised up into 
heaven immediately after death. And if men could be 
so regenerated in his time, surely now, after the influence 
of the New Heavens, which constitute the internal of 
the church, have been actively at work for a century 
and a half, the way must be open. 

But the churches of the present day, not omitting 
the New Church, are essentially Hke the Israelites of 
old. There is almost a total defect of faith. An}d:hing 
which the natural rationahty cannot clearly see and 
demonstrate is at once rejected by many. The plain 
enunciations of the Word cannot be trusted, unless 
backed by some outside testimony, coming through 
the senses. Many in the churches who hold that the 
Bible is true in a general way, when the great power 



ORDERED TO THE FRONT. 51 

and far-reaching efficacy of the gospel is proclaimed, 
as being able to save even from all sin, and to lead the 
man of the chm*ch, and the church at large, back into 
states of true celestial life, and that it is intended to 
secure the entire restoration of our race to primitive 
conditions as in the Adamic age, at once shake their 
heads in denial, or at least in doubt as to the gospels 
having any such far-reaching power. The people of 
the Christian Church, as we find them to-day, with 
few exceptions, take the same position insisted upon 
by the Israelites in the midst of the wilderness. When 
the twelve spies sent out by Moses, to search the land 
and report returned, they said to Moses, ^'We came 
unto the land whither thou sendest us, and surely it 
floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it 
[exhibiting the great cluster, and other fruits they 
brought back with them], nevertheless the people be 
strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled 
and very great; and moreover we saw the children of 
Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the 
south ; the Hittites, and the Jebusites and the Amorites 
dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by 
the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.'^ '^And Caleb 
stilled the people before Moses, and said, let us go up 
at once and possess it; for we are well able to over- 
come it." But the ten said: ^^ We be not able to go up 
against the people, for they are stronger than we," 
and the multitude was ready to stone Caleb and Joshua. 
And because of their own unbelief, they were con- 
demned to wander in the wilderness for forty years. 



52 THE NEW CANAAN. 

and till all who came out from Egypt, twenty years old 
and older, were dead. And yet this people, now so 
destitute of faith in the Lord, only a little over a year 
before, were led out of Egypt, and through the Red 
Sea by the strong arm of the Lord. And the promise 
that they should inherit the land had been repeated 
over and over. But even the distant view of danger 
paralyzed their faith, and as a consequence they fell in 
the wilderness. 

And the same cowardly shrinking from the straight 
path of duty, was repeated all along down the Christian 
age, just as represented by the Israelites, to the time 
of its consummation one hundred and fifty years ago, 
save the few Calebs and Joshuas, who stood firm in 
the way of duty, regardless of bitter persecution. And 
now we who Hve in this intermediate period, the time 
of the end, possessing vastly fuller light and better 
opportunities than did the early Christians, are repeat- 
ing the same astounding mistake, of utter imbelief in 
the promises of the Word, which we cannot gainsay, 
and as well of unbehef in the plain teachings of the 
Tso-itings given for our use, which constantly point to 
the Old Canaan, now in the hands of aliens, as the true 
home of the church, whose fruitful fields and genial 
clime beckon us on, notwithstanding our long winter 
of cheerless unbelief. 

Then dear reader, '^Let us at once go up and possess 
the land, for we are well able." Assuredly the promise 
of the Celestial church and life, stand out so clear and 
full, and with such warmth and vitality, as it comes 



ORDERED TO THE FRONT. 53 

from the Lord through His Word, that we need not 
hesitate longer. For the consecrated and pure Ufe, 
inspired by love to God and to man, in which the evil 
loves of the self-life have been subdued and removed 
outside of the circle of the active life, is the great theme 
of the Holy Word from first to last. We are clearly 
called to a state of heart purity. There is no evading 
this truth. And may the Lord forbid that we should 
try to evade it. The Word by precept and promise 
brings this state before us, and with trembling tender- 
ness, urges us to move forward and enter upon it. 
Hear what the Lord in person says: '^Blessed are the 
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are they 
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they 
shall be filled. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father in heaven is perfect." Now it would seem clear 
that deliverance from the evils, from all the evils of 
our fallen nature, and purity of heart, and uprightness of 
conduct, are distinctly set forth in the Word, as ends 
demanding earnest effort on our part. As we have seen 
the letter of the Word teaches it, and in the internal 
sense holiness to the Lord is the great theme in all its 
parts. And the difference of opinion among believers 
seems to originate in the views held by some that we may 
not hope to attain it in this life, and must patiently wait 
till we pass out of the body, and into the other life. But 
on what ground we may hope for purity in the future life, 
if it may not be attained during the life in the world, 
is a point which seems difficult to explain. Will there 
be a new gospel, a fuller redemption, and an easier way 



54 THE NEW CANAAN. 

of finding deliverance from our evils? Clearly we must 
set this down as a delusion, without even the shadow 
of truth in it. But a candid and critical examination 
of our hearts will doubtless con^dnce us, that our want 
of faith in this particular, originates in the fact that 
the mil of the self-life is not subordinated to the will 
of the internal man. In other words, it originates in 
an aversion to laying down the life of self-love, and is 
really an effort to excuse ourselves for our unfaithful- 
ness to the Lord, by pleading inability to live as He 
requires us to live. It is on our part, a cowardly turning 
aside from the plain, though straight way the Lord has 
marked out for us. The great trouble seems to be a 
catering to the spirit of the world, and pleading the 
delusive hope that we can find our place in the heavens 
without la}dng do-^n our life, and following the Lord. 
We say to ourselves, so we but keep the commandments, 
that is so we refrain from literally breaking those which 
begin with 'Hhou shalt not, " that all shall be well with 
us. But do we not understand that we may do this — 
that we may be blameless as to overt violations, and 
yet our hearts be as a cage of unclean birds? And 
wherein is this external obedience to the commandments 
different from that required of the Jews ? At best it is 
only moral good. We are to keep the commandments 
in a different way from this mere refraining from out- 
ward deeds of e^dl. The Christian, especially the 
Christian of the New Dispensation, can keep the com- 
mandments, only by loving the Lord with all the heart, 
mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. It is 



OBDEEED TO THE FBONT. 55 

something which reaches the hidden motives and pm*- 
poses of the heart. No mere negative, outside work 
will answer the purpose. But that is not all. We 
have the light of truth in the greatest abundance, and 
in consenting to rest satisfied with this external obedi- 
ence, we are sinning against light and knowledge, and 
if we persist in it, hard will be the account we must 
give. For what purpose was the Word brought down 
to men, telling them in plain language how to live, how 
to shun and overcome evil, if this may not be done 
here and now, enabling them to come into states of 
heavenly purity? And why was the internal sense of 
the Word opened, and the key to its heavenly treas- 
ures committed to us, if we can make no practical 
use of them, in rising into states of true heavenly life, 
which is taking possession of the spiritual Canaan, into 
which the Lord for long ages, has been in constant 
effort to lead our race? In all the wonderful and myste- 
rious leadings of the Divine Providence, as manifested 
in shaping the destinies of men and nations, and amidst 
all the sufferings and tears and groans of our race, the 
central all-embracing purpose, never for a moment 
lost sight of, has been to lead the reluctant people back, 
not merely to wander in the wilderness of spiritual 
regeneration, but rather into the long promised Canaan, 
to dwell on the peaceful mountains, where of old, dwelt 
the Adamic people in the paradise of God. 

Since the Lord has led his people on through the 
wilderness of spiritual conflict and doubt, till the 
bright vision of the old Canaan begins to appear, who 



56 THE NEW CANAAN. 

can doubt His intention to still lead them on, till, like 
the prodigal, they find themselves at the old home 
where peace and plenty abound? 



a 



TI. 

THE TWO MEN SENT BY JOSHUA TO SPY OUT 

THE LAND. 



The immediate object in sending the two men to 
search the land, was to gain such knowledge in regard 
to it, and in regard to the inhabitants, as might be 
of practical service in its conquest. In war it is 
always important to know the strength of the enemy, 
and if the country is to be invaded, an accurate 
knowledge of its geography is important. And not- 
withstanding the miraculous power of Jehovah had 
been exercised all along the journey, as the safety 
and comfort of the people required, it was neverthe- 
less the clear duty of Joshua and all the under offi- 
cers, to be just as careful, as though by their own 
wisdom and power, they were to destroy the Canaan- 
ites, and take possession of the land. By obedience 
to the Lord and co-operation with Him, they were to 
win success. 

But in all these movements the Lord had a far- 
reaching purpose, utterly unknown to the Israelites. 
Guided by His wisdom, and made victorious by His 
power, every step they took in crossing over into the 
land, and subduing their enemies, represented the 
progress of a war and conquest, wide as the universe 

57 



58 THE NEW CANAAN. 

in its influence. Nothing less than the subjugation 
of the kingdoms of this world, and the establishment 
of that kingdom for which we are taught to pray, is 
represented and involved. And the exploration of the 
land by the two men, teaches a most important fact 
relative to the incoming church, which makes clear 
the wise provision the Lord has made for its extension 
into the different regions of the earth. 

But I can only consider this exceedingly instructive 
chapter of the Word, far enough to draw out some 
small part of the representative meaning of the two 
men sent out by Joshua to spy out the land of Canaan, 
and also the representative meaning of Rahab the 
harlot, and her kindly service in secreting them, and 
enabling them to escape the officers of Jericho. 

Those acquainted with the writings of Swedenborg, 
understand that at the end of every dispensation of 
the church, in preparation for the judgment then about 
to be executed upon the former church, a critical and 
thorough exploration of those upon whom the Last 
Judgment is about to come, is made, in order that the 
way may be prepared for the introduction of the New 
dispensation then to be raised up. This exploration 
is in the interest of such persons as may be able to pass 
through the judgment, and to enter the Church then 
about to be formed. Its object is to secretly impress 
upon the minds of the people the essentials of the church, 
and to bring home to them the necessity of incorporating 
those essentials into the life. It is a call to prompt 
decision of purpose and action, yet so quietly made 



SPYING THE LAND. 69 

as not to interfere in the least with individual free- 
dom. It whispers to the inner consciousness, in the 
language of Joshua, '' Choose you this day whom you will 
serve." 

The exploration and judgment which pass upon men 
prior to entering a new dispensation, are essentially the 
same as that which takes place after death, in preparing 
for the final home. It is a critical discrimination be- 
tween the true and the false, and the good and the evil, 
and if we are in the love of good and truth, it calls for 
the prompt application of every good and true principle 
to the life. Essentially the same judgment passes upon 
every one who is being regenerated, though there seems 
to be a special and more urgent call, when preparing 
to enter a new church, in a higher degree. 

The men sent to secretly spy out the land, signify 
Divine Truth, either directly or indirectly from the 
Word. Two, the number of men sent out, signify the 
conjunction of good and truth, or the truth filled with 
love. In a former chapter it was shown that Sweden- 
borg was the antitype of Joshua. Joshua is truth 
combatting, and represents the opening of the truths 
of the Word, given for the New Christian Church. 
Joshua, the type, sent the two men over into Canaan 
to make a critical examination as to the state of the 
church, and Swedenborg, the antitype, more than three 
thousand years later, did that which was accurately 
represented by Joshua, in sending over the two men. 
That is he sent out Divine Truth from the Word in 
great fullness to explore the consummated Christian 



60 THE NEW CANAAN. 

Church, and to prepare the remnant in it, which could 
be preserved for the formation of the New Christian 
Church. His message filhng more than a score of large 
octavo volumes was sent out into the midst of the 
desolated church, to secretly search out its real qualities, 
— so secretly that not even the few readers knew whence 
it came. But these volumes were magazines filled with 
''truth combatting" to be used in the war against 
falsity and evil, which had devastated the church and 
brought the darkness of a starless night over all Christen- 
dom. The campaign was planned by Divine Wisdom, 
and executed by the power of ''truth combatting." 
But the conflict of truth against falsity and evil, was 
waged so quietly — so secretly, we may say — that even 
after it had been progressing in the very centers of 
Christendom for a full century, few had any knowledge 
of what was being done, or suspected that their cherished 
and venerated doctrinal strongholds were being un- 
dermined and would soon topple in hopeless ruin. 
But in the mean time the few little circles of readers 
and receivers of the New doctrines had considerably 
increased, and in a small way began to attract atten- 
tion, and to create some alarm among the adherents 
of the old doctrines, who made various futile efforts to 
check the spread of the New Truth. But in addition 
to the regular methods of teaching the truth given for 
the New Church, under various Providential disguises, 
it found ways to steal into the strongholds of falsity 
and evil in just such forms as were best suited to find 
a lodgment now and then, in a prepared mind. In 



SPYING THE LAND. 61 

this way a knowledge of the new truth, with some 
measure of clearness came to many literary men and 
women, and they at once began to introduce fragments 
of it into their books, religious and secular, and prose 
and poetry, also into magazine articles, and newspapers, 
and indeed into whatever they wrote. For one having 
the genuine truth in his own mind, is in a manner 
compelled to express it, if he expresses himself at all. 
And the readers were pleased, and the demand for such 
literature increased, and is increasing to this day, till 
now, scarcely a book or paper can be read without 
finding many traces of the secret work of the spies. 
And every new truth which falls into the affections of 
some needy soul, is a substantial gain, a real victory 
over falsity and evil, though it may make little show 
at the time. For as the sun at daybreak begins to 
send forth into the dark world broken fragments of 
light, little by little the darkness recedes, and the light 
increases, and in an hour the clear light of day has 
come. And in this change from darkness to light, every 
broken ray of light has been helpful, has performed its 
own little part. Just so it is with the light of truth, as 
it goes forth into the dark cities where falsity and evil 
dwell. There is some despised Rahab to receive a few 
tiny rays, and to hide them from devouring falsity 
under the stalks of. flax which she has spread in order 
on the roof of her house; that is the simple external 
truths which she has learned, and made her guide, 
though imperfect and scant, nevertheless guard the 
inmost affection for truth and good from harm. And 



62 THE NEW CANAAN. 

when the danger from destructive falsities has passed, 
she lets down the new truths she has received into her 
affections and protected, by a cord through the window, 
signifying the rational rnind, outside the wall which 
protects falsity and evil and guides them to the moun- 
tains of love, where they may be secure till the three 
days are accomphshed which make the state full, when 
they may safely go forth on every mission of use. 

But not only has the new truth been steadily passing 
out in helpful measure to the most obscure corners of 
Christendom, in the literature of the day, it has also 
exerted an influence, perhaps even greater, through the 
pulpits of the Protestant Churches. ^' Truth com- 
batting'' has come unsought to almost all ministers of 
the gospel, and has been received in some measure by 
very many, and given to their people according to their 
light, doubtless in many cases, in the very best way 
to avoid awakening prejudices, and to meet wiih. favor 
from such as are in states of good. Thus the truth is 
permeating all the churches, and finding a lodging place 
wherever there is a little good in the inmost parts to 
receive it, and to protect it from harm. And there can 
be no doubt that tens of thousands, scattered through 
all the churches, and outside of them all, have received 
enough of the new truth to set them to thinking, and 
to examining themselves, and to setting up new stand- 
ards of life. And by the multitudes who are in states 
of simple good, the real truth is almost universally re- 
ceived as to all the practical duties of the everyday 
life. And all such are coming to see that future des- 



SPYING THE LAND. 63 

tiny is not determined by the doctrinal standard, but 
by inmost loves, and the real qualities of life. And 
all this change has been brought about by the secret 
work of the new truth in exploring his spiritual state, 
under the guidance of the Spirit of Truth detecting 
lurking falsities and evils, and putting them away. All 
these are preserved remnants from the consummated 
church, and are being prepared to cross over the Jordan 
into the New Celestial Canaan, which is the Lord's 
kingdom established upon the earth. 

But what is the representation of Rahab, and of her 
hiding the two men in the flax on the roof of her house, 
and thus in securing their escape from the officers of 
Jericho? Rahab clearly represents the remnant of a 
church which had fallen into decay, and probably into 
almost all forms of falsity and evil, while yet, covered 
over by external corruptions, there remained a few 
seed principles from the fallen Adamic Church, which 
under the new and changed condition, the Lord was 
about to call into life. A harlot signifies a perverted 
and fallen church. And Rahab being an inhabitant of 
Canaan, which represents the celestial church, and which 
was the center and home of the Most Ancient Church, 
had doubtless descended from that church. There is 
direct evidence that there were remnants from the 
Most Ancient Church in Canaan at the time the Israelites 
took possession of it, as we are informed in the Arcana 
Coelestia, 4447. It is said: ^^The remains of the Most 
Ancient Church, which was celestial, were still in the 
land of Canaan, especially among those who were called 



64 THE NEW CANAAN. 

Hittites and Hivites." Also we find e^ddence in the 
Word as interpreted by Swedenborg, that the Shec- 
hemites, whom two of Jacob 's sons slew, were descended 
from that chm-ch. We are fm-ther told that : ''The New 
Church is planted in Central Africa, among those who 
Uve a good life according to the best of their knowledge, 
and worship God under a human form." (C. S. L. 114.) 
It seems certain that these were not of the Spiritual 
Church, and therefore must have been of celestial 
origin. 

May we not confidently expect that when the New 
Church comes into its ''appointed station," that is 
into the full fife and powder of the Celestial Church, as 
enhghtened from the Word, and as largely developed 
on the natural and scientific planes, while at the same 
time recei^dng the copious influx from the Lord, through 
the restored will, that all the gentiles of celestial origin, 
will speedily come into the full fife of the Celestial 
Church, and in the language of Isaiah, " They shall 
build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former des- 
olations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the 
desolations of many generations." 

^liile Rahab represents the church in ruins, as re- 
ceiving the two men who were secretly spying out the 
land, she represents the covered over and hidden good 
which still exists in the celestial remnants which have 
come do^m the ages to the present time. She repre- 
sents all the millions of earth, into whatever land 
they may have drifted, who have a fingering spark of 
genuine love, handed down from the days of old. And 



SPYING THE LAND. 65 

her action in concealing and protecting the two men 
indicates the readiness with which these remnants will 
receive the Lord, and spring up into a genuine church 
of love, when all things are ready. The two men 
signify the special influences which the Lord will send 
out to the celestial remnants when the time for the 
great ingathering has fully come. They will perhaps 
be largely on the internal plane, as were those by means 
of which the New Church was planted in Central Africa, 
as related by Swedenborg. Nevertheless a sufficient 
basis of truth from the Word, on the external plane, 
will be required to give stability to the movement. 
The influx from the Lord through the internal man, 
must find suitable truths in the external mind, to 
serve as receiving vessels, else it will be dissipated. 
The two pillars Joshua built, one in the midst of the 
Jordan, and the other at Gilgal, of stones taken from 
the Jordan, clearly indicate the necessity of sound 
doctrinal principles, drawn from the literal sense of 
the Word, to give stability, and to serve as a fitting 
basis for the descending internal church in ultimates. 
Rahab did not desert the two men when endangered 
by the officers of Jericho. She took them up to the 
roof of the house, signifying what is inmost and highest, 
and hid them with stalks of flax which she had laid in 
order there. The stalks of flax in the Word signify its 
Hteral or most external truths, all she had. The two 
men representing the new and higher truths given for 
the New Church, were covered up and completely 
hidden from sight, that the ofl^icers of Jericho — the 

5 



66 THE NEW CANAAN. 

leading principles of falsity and evil, might not profane 
and destroy them. But as those remnants are mostly 
ignorant of the written Word, the flax signifies the 
simple truth principles which have been received as 
truth, from any source. The flax was laid in order, 
that is the truth principles were arranged for use in 
guiding the life. And the stalks of flax, though but 
few, were sufflcient to protect the internal Divine 
principles which had been implanted by the Lord. 
And not only so, but when the immediate danger of 
being profaned and destroyed had passed, Rahab let 
them down by a cord, or rope, through the window, 
''saying, get you to the mountains, and hide yourselves 
three days, until the pursuers be returned; and after- 
wards may ye go your way." Rahab here, as before, 
represents the remnant which has been preserved 
from the Most Ancient Church. The roof of the house 
where the men were hid is the inmost will or life, which 
has been preserved in some measure of good. The two 
men are the truth principles, which either directly or 
indirectly have found way to this remnant, from the 
new revelation of truth, given for the incoming dispensa- 
tion of the church, into the httle soundness remaining 
in the will. The cord by which they were let down 
signifies a remnant of good in the mil, united with 
the new truth received. Letting them down through 
the window, and outside the vmlls of Jericho, signifies 
letting the truth received by the will, or united with 
love, down through the understanding, or the rational 
mind into the eternal fife, with its varied activities. 



SPYING THE LAND. 67 

Dwelling in the mountains three days, is abiding in a 
state of good, till the union with the newly received 
truth is made perfect, which gives immunity from 
assaulting falsity, and preparation for all the external 
duties of life. 

But as few in the New Church seem to have given 
much attention to the radical difference between the 
two churches, the Celestial and the Spiritual, it may be 
well to restate this difference from the writings. In A. 
C. 5113, it is said: ''It is to be noted that in the Word, 
where the Spiritual Church is treated of, its intellectual 
principle is also treated of throughout, because it is 
the intellectual which with the man of that church, is 
regenerated and made a church. There are in general 
two churches, the Celestial and the Spiritual; the Ce- 
lestial Church has place with the man who is capable of 
being regenerated, or made a church as to the will; 
whereas the Spiritual Church has place with the man 
who, as we said, is capable of being regenerated only as 
to the intellectual part. The Most Ancient Church 
which was before the flood, was Celestial, because with 
those who were of that church, there was somewhat en- 
tire in the will-part; but the Ancient Church, which 
was after the flood was spiritual, because with those 
who were of that church, there was not anything entire 
in the will-part, but in the intellectual part." Again in 
A. C. 2669, it is said : ' ' The Celestial are those of whom 
the Lord thus speaks: 'He calleth His own sheep by 
their name, and leadeth them forth, and when he hath 
led forth His own sheep, He goeth before them and the 



68 THE NEW CANAAN, 

sheep follow Him because they know His voice.' But 
the Spiritual are those of whom He thus speaks; and 
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also 
I must bring with Me, and they shall hear My voice, and 
they shall become one flock and one shepherd/' (John 
10, 3.) In this last quotation from the TSTitings, we 
not only have the essentially different characteristics of 
the two churches brought to view, but the Lord Him- 
self tells us that they shall become one flock — ^that is 
one church. ^^ Them also I must bring with me [that is 
the spiritual], and they shall hear My voice, and they 
shaU become one flock, and one Shepherd, " clearly shows 
that He proposes to bring the Spiritual into the same 
state as the Celestial, that is to make them Celestial, and 
thus unite in one the long-separated Churches. 

In closing this chapter, I msh to remind the reader 
of the fact that the children of Israel while journeying 
through the wilderness under Moses, represented a 
spiritual church, which was the First Dispensation of 
the Christian Church, and also of the further fact, that 
under the leadership of Joshua, in crossing the Jordan, 
and in taking possession of Canaan, they represented 
the transition from the first Christian Church to the 
New Christian Church, the grandest and best of all, 
which is to crown the ages, and endure forever. Then 
with these facts in mind, we may see that Rahab and 
her house, being preserved when Jericho fell, and con- 
tinuing to dwell in the land, with the IsraeHtes, rep- 
resent the remnant of a celestial church to be brought 
in and united with the remnant from the first Christian 



SPYING THE LAND. 69 

Church in the formation of the New Christian Church, 
— ^the final church upon earth. As Rahab and her 
people had no connection with the Israelites in the 
wilderness, while they represented a spiritual church, 
but became connected with them at the very time 
when they entered Canaan and began to represent the 
coming Celestial Church it seems clear that a people 
entirely apart from the Christian Church, a people who 
have never had any connection with Christianity, is 
represented. It will be a people doubtless who have 
for long ages been in deep ignorance, and to a greater or 
less extent in the external falsities and evils of some 
pagan religion, but still who have through all this 
retained in the inmost center of Hfe, hidden away out 
of sight of all save the All-Seeing Eye, a small remnant 
of good, of soundness in the will-part, handed down 
from the First Church. Thus in the final consumma- 
tion of the decayed and decaying ages, and in the final 
ingathering of the Lord's people, the First and the Last 
shall be brought together in the One Universal Church 
in which the Lord in His Glorified Humanity, shall 
dwell m the midst of His people forever. 



VII. 
JOSHUA LEADS THE HOSTS TO THE JORDAN. 



The representation of the Israehtes at this point 
brings the Christian Church to what may be considered 
the dividing Hne between the First Dispensation and 
the Second. Here the distinctively Spiritual Church,' 
in which there was no soundness of will, is left behind, 
and the New Christian Church, which is to be Celestial, 
is about to take its rise. In this church, there will be 
some soundness of will from its beginning, enough to 
give the distinctively celestial type, and to make the 
regeneration of the will possible, and thus to open the 
original and normal way of influx, from the Lord 
through the internal way which was closed in the days 
of Noah. However as has been already stated, the 
termination of one dispensation to make room for 
another, in external manifestations in the world, is 
never abrupt. There is always an intermediate state 
in which the Old and the New mingle. The one clings 
to the traditions and life of the past, while the other 
persistently urges the claims of the new, saying ^'Let 
the dead bury their dead." 

It may be well here to refer to the beginning of this 
transitional period, as represented by the children of 
Israel, which was with the death of Miriam, soon fol- 

70 



I 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 71 

lowed by the death of Aaron. Miriam represented the 
good of truth, that is the good of the Spiritual Church. 
And Aaron, apart from the priesthood, represents the 
truth of the same church. Death and burial in the 
Word, in a good sense, represent resurrection and life, 
that is being raised up into a new and higher life. 
Then the death of Miriam and Aaron, respectively 
representing the good and truth of the Spiritual Church, 
is the first indication of the coming change in the church 
from the Spiritual to the Celestial. The death of these 
two prominent representatives, brings to view the 
state of the Spiritual Church, when good and truth on 
the part of those among whom the New Church is to 
be raised up, have reached the full state peculiar to that 
dispensation, in its best days, and they begin to feel 
earnest aspirations for a new and higher life, the old 
state no longer satisfying their desires. 

This preparation for passing into the New Dispensa- 
tion was made as we have seen, by the great revival 
of Apostolic faith and life under Wesley and his co- 
adjutors. In that movement, notwithstanding its limi- 
tations and defects, there was an earnest outreaching 
after the true celestial life, under the name of Entire 
Sanctifi cation. But the defect of truth was too great 
for its satisfactory realization. New truth was first to 
be received from the Word to guide the way into that 
life, and as a defense against the lurking falsities handed 
down from the dark past. 

Hence the old state of faith and life was no longer 
able to satisfy the aspirations of the man of the church, 



72 THE NEW CANAAN. 

and it died and it was biiried, that is the affections 
and thoughts left this state behind, and began to reach 
out eagerly for some new state, which should be adequate 
to satisfy the newly inspired desires for a higher and 
better life. And if Israel is not permitted to march 
straight through Edom into the promised land, on the 
king's highway, and at once to possess the goodly land, 
they resolve to make the circuit around that country, 
so pleasant to the natural man. And it is while making 
this laborious march that they pass through the country 
infested with fiery serpents. Thus it ever is. When 
the good and truth of the Spiritual Church no longer 
satisfy and we resolve at any cost to find the higher 
life of the Celestial Church, the hell of e^dl passion and 
lust within, of whose existence we had probably been 
ignorant, is uncapped as it were, and the venomous ser- 
pents of the evil proprium, or self-life, creep forth, and 
we are stricken with terror, and cry to the Lord for 
help. Then we are led to look upon the Lifted up 
and Glorified One, and five. 

But in the forward movements of the church, after 
the dividing fine between the two dispensations has 
been crossed, the old rapidly recedes, and every effort 
to infuse new life into it is futile, while the new advances 
with ever increasing pace, till it has reached its ' 'ap- 
pointed station," and received the full influx of life 
and power peculiar to its mature state. 

The Jordan, the literal line of separation between the 
journey of the Israehtes through the wilderness, and 
their promised inheritance, represents the point of 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 73 

separation between the consummated Apostolic Church, 
and the Church of the Second Advent, which is to be 
the final church of earth, and will endure forever. At 
the time Joshua led the host of Israel through the 
Jordan, it was out of its banks, flooding the lowlands, 
seeming to the people to present an insuperable barrier 
against further progress. It was the time of harvest, 
the time for gathering the good grain into the barn, 
and for separating the tares from the wheat, and binding 
them in bundles to burn. This represented the judg- 
ment upon the consummated church, which prepared 
the way for the coming of the Lord, and the establish- 
ment of His church and kingdom. The overflowing 
flood of angry waters which seemed to challenge the 
further progress of Joshua and the children of Israel, 
represents essentially the same thing as, '^The great 
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, which 
stood before the woman which was ready to be de- 
livered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.'' 
That is the waters of the Jordan spread from hill to hill 
filled with mud, and the strong current rushing down 
towards the Dead Sea, impressively represent the ac- 
cumulated falsities and evils of the devastated church, 
which, a century and a half ago, threatened to ex- 
terminate our race, and were only turned back upon 
themselves, and the race saved from impending de- 
struction, by the spoken Word, and the Omnipotence 
of the Lord in His Glorified Humanity. 

But I deem it unnecessary to dwell upon the Last 
Judgment which was executed upon the vast multitudes, 



74 THE NEW CANAAN. 

collected from Christendom in the spiritual world, in 
the year 1757. This judgment is so fully set forth in 
the Apocalypse, as opened and explained by the Swedish 
Seer, to say nothing of many other parts of the Word, 
that there seems no occasion for occupying such familiar 
ground. There is, however, one direction in which it 
would seem that something profitable to the church in 
its present state and at the present time, may be said. 
That is, while the Last Judgment as described by 
Swedenborg as effected in the spiritual world, is familiar 
to the people of the church generally, there is one phase 
of the subject, to which few in the church seem to have 
given much thought, though it appears to be of grave 
importance at the present time, as affecting the Christian 
world. 

The Last Judgment as effected in the spiritual world 
was by means of the truths of the Word. Thus indeed 
all judgment is effected, whether in the spiritual world 
or in the natural. Jesus said: '^The Word that I have 
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." 
And the judgment process, whether on a single indi- 
vidual or on the church, is essentiallv the same. In 
the clear light of truth, every false and e\T.l thing is 
uncovered, and appears just as it is. To hide from 
it, or to break its effect by deception is impossible. 
With those who are in the love of good, as far as the 
separation of that which is false and evil is concerned, 
the process of judgment and of regeneration is the same. 
The judgment upon those who are constantly passing 
into the world of spirits after death, is similar to that 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 75 

now taking place with those in the natural world, only 
the state of men in the present life is as sleep when 
compared with their state after death. Hence the 
judgment of truth with those still in the flesh is much 
slower, though it is now rapidly increasing under the 
new facilities for acquiring truth. And one who has 
followed the Lord in the regeneration till the natural 
or external man is brought into full correspondence with 
the internal spiritual man, has already passed through 
the judgment, and at death passes immediately, or 
nearly so, into his final home in the heavens. This 
indeed is the true order of life, and in the coming church 
in its mature state, will doubtless become the common 
rule. Then we may readily see that the influence of 
the Last Judgment on those who were in the love of 
good, accomplished essentially the same thing that the 
judgment, or regeneration, now accomplishes for those 
who in the present life, pass into confirmed states, as 
to good and truth. In both cases the preparation for 
heaven is accomplished. And it may further be said 
that one whose inmost love is evil, in passing through 
this judgment, that is in rejecting the good and the 
true, and confirming himself in his evil state, is here 
and now prepared for his home in the hells, and passes 
there soon after the death of the body. 

Then if the judgment which is being effected at the 
present time upon multitudes in the natural world, 
is by means of the same truths from the Word, which 
were active in the Last Judgment in the spiritual 
world, are not the judgment infiuences now so mani- 



76 THE NEW CANAAN. 

festly in the world, really a continuation of the former, 
brought down to the ultimate plane, which is really 
the place, where from the beginning, it was intended 
that men by the help of the Lord, should prepare 
themselves for hfe in heaven. 

The immediate design in the Last Judgment in 1757, 
was to restore all things to order in the spiritual world, 
and to prepare the way for the organization of the 
New Christian Heaven, w^hich was to constitute the 
internal of the New Church on earth, and the medium 
through which it could be organized and built up in 
the world. Is it not clear that the same judgment 
truths must be actively at work among men in the 
world, in preparing the w^ay for the estabhshment of 
the New Church upon earth? We are told in the 
\\Titings that the falses and e^dls of the former church 
must first be removed from the minds of men, before it 
is possible for the new truth to find general acceptance. 
And how are they to be removed, unless by a critical 
judgment, that is a careful discrimination in the new 
fight which has been let into the world, between the 
false and the true? And this discrimination must 
descend to particulars. Whatever of truth and good 
may be found intermingled with the old, must be care- 
fuUy separated, and gathered up as a precious remnant, 
to be filled ^ith fife from the Lord, and incorporated 
into the new, 'Hhat nothing be lost." It is to be 
feared that we as a church have sustained loss by 
failing to observe these conditions with sufficient care. 
We have mistaken the states, as to good and truth of 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 77 

many who have continued with the denominations 
around us. We have taken the descriptions of the 
dead church about the middle of the seventeenth 
century, by Swedenborg, as expressing the true condi- 
tions now prevaiHng, overlooking the fact that the 
Lord in His providence has been raising up and pre- 
paring a remnant of faithful souls, among whom a 
degree of true spirituality has been preserved, or rather 
raised up since Swedenborg 's time, and admirably pre- 
pared for receiving the truth and life of the real New 
Church, when the ingathering season has fully come. 
The revival of earnest and vital Christianity, which 
was called into life by the descending influx from the 
New Heavens, and assisted by an army of faithful 
workers on the external plane, called into life and 
activity a goodly number, who were in states of simple 
good, and glad to return to the active and faithful 
life peculiar to the Christian Church in its primitive 
state. Many of these disciples were brought into deep 
interior experiences of the presence and saving power 
of the Lord, such as were common in Apostolic times. 
Limited in their knowledge of truth, and crippled by 
many falsities of doctrine, they nevertheless had the 
essentials of a true Christian life, and were experienced 
in the workings of that spirit so distinctly promised 
to the disciples for all coming time. What they termed 
experimental religion, was a living verity to them, 
which the plausible sophistries of unregenerate natural 
men could never shake. And I am constrained to say 
that the defect of this conscious, realizing sense of the 



78 THE NEW CANAAN. 

Lord's presence, supping wdth the humble disciple, 
fully explains the lack of spiritual power among our 
people. And it also makes entirely clear the cause of 
our slow growth, as a church, — a cause which none of 
our writers have seemed to see. But there is reason 
to hope that better things await us in the near future. 
Our doctrinal and intellectual state, in ^dew of our 
en^dronment, has seemed necessary in preparing the 
way for the new influx of heavenly life, for the same 
reason that it was necessary for the early disciples 
to tarry in Jerusalem till they received the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost. The new truths given for the New 
Church are the vessels into which the influx of celestial 
life must flow, and these vessels must be provided in 
abundance, that the life may be full in all parts. 

We have now seen that the Judgment of Divine 
Truth has long been in active operation on the mental 
and spiritual plane, in separating the false from the 
true, and the e\dl from the good. ^\Tiat then will be 
the final result of this Judgment on the existing institu- 
tions of our Christian civiHzation? l^Tiile it does not 
come ^dthin the plan of this httle work to discuss 
particulars in regard to the present needs of society, 
a few statements touching the operation of imiversal 
principles may be in place and useful. 

The Last Judgment upon the collected myriads in 
the spiritual world, who had organized what Sweden- 
borg calls '' fictitious heavens," when fully completed, 
utterly broke up, and swept away those e\dl organiza- 
tions, leaving not a vestige of them remaining. And 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 79 

as the judgment now progressing among men has the 
same end in view, that is to prepare the way for the 
formation of the New Church, and the estabhshment 
of the Lord's kingdom upon the earth, it would seem 
certain that the same general conditions will prevail. 
That is as this judgment advances, every thing contrary 
to the Lord's kingdom must be rooted out, and forever 
pass away. All things false and evil, in church and in 
state, standing, as they do, opposed to the pure and 
heavenly principles announced in the Bible, must be 
given up and removed. But it is difficult for us to 
realize these things. When the search-light of truth 
reveals unpleasant things, we are inclined to turn 
away from them, saying to ourselves, as things have 
been in the past, and now are, so shall they continue 
to be. Nevertheless, it were better for us to make up 
our minds that the judgment light which now penetrates 
every nook and corner of Christendom, will continue 
to shine, till the true state of every institution, ecclesi- 
astical, civil and social, is made manifest, and if found 
contrary to the law of justice and right between man 
and man, will be removed out of the way. For the 
Lord Himself through John in the Apocalypse says: 
^^The former things are passed away, behold I make 
all things New." And the same thing is taught by 
representation, in the instructions given to Joshua, to 
utterly destroy the old inhabitants of the land of Canaan, 
and every thing pertaining to them. The old order of 
society, the old cities, and all civil and religious insti- 
tutions, were to pass away, and the Israelites, beginning 



80 THE NEW CANAAN. 

at the foundation, were to build up a new order of 
society, modeled in every particular after the instruc- 
tions given by the Lord. Nothing of the old corrupt 
and idolatrous conditions was permitted to remain to 
tempt the IsraeHtes to disobedience. And in the in- 
coming New Church, which is to inaugurate the final 
form of redeemed society, in which righteousness shall 
prevail, the conditions cannot be less strict. And as 
every thoughtful man is obhged to admit, the condi- 
tions now prevailing throughout Christendom, in every 
order of society, partake far more largely of the kingdom 
of darkness, than of the pure and just and peaceable 
kingdom of the Lord. And although it is true that 
there has been an encouraging development on the lines 
of the kingdom of righteousness in many directions, 
yet the true IsraeHtes who are active and earnest and 
persistent in this direction, are all hedged in by false 
conditions, and crippled in all their efforts to bring in 
a better order of things, and beyond doubt the kingdom 
of darkness is dominant in almost every department 
of society, both in pubhc and in private. But this 
state of affairs cannot long continue. The judgment 
of Di\dne Truth, inflexible and persistent, moves on. 
Already the moral sense of all the true and upright, 
long outraged, is becoming aroused, and the deep and 
dark corruption, now so prevalent, must and will be 
swept away. The exploration of the spies is being vig- 
orousl}^ prosecuted, and the hidden works of darkness 
are being uncovered and exposed in the clear light of 
truth. 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 81 

And this judgment cannot cease till all things in both 
church and State are brought into perfect correspond- 
ence with the internal things of the Lord 's church and 
kingdom. The external must be made a true ultimate 
of the internal, that the heavenly influx may be full and 
perfect from the center to the circumference, carrying 
full and joyful life to every part. This will all be accom- 
plished under the guiding providence of the Lord, but 
just how we may be unable to clearly see till the time 
comes. But we are told in the Writings that when the 
wicked go beyond certain limits they bring punish- 
ment upon themselves. Hence we have no reason to 
fear that the abnormal development of wickedness now 
so manifest will long continue. The boundary will 
soon be reached, and it will be turned back upon itself, 
as the waters of the flooded Jordan, that the righteous 
may safely pass through. And the line of separation 
between the good and the evil, according to real qualities 
of character, has been distinctly drawn by the explora- 
tions made under the guidance of the Lord, as repre- 
sented by the two men sent out by Joshua for that pur- 
pose. And the active tendency and certain result of 
this exploration, is for those on either side, to bring out 
their respective qualities of life, with increasing rapidity 
and distinctness in the external conduct of life. Those 
who are evil as to their inmost life, are throwing off the 
external disguises under which they have concealed their 
evils, and openly and boldly plunging into great enor- 
mities. And, on the other hand, those who have taken 
their station on the Lord's right hand, are receiving 

6 



82 THE NEW CANAAN. 



an ever increasing influx of heavenly life from the Lord, 
and are rapidly being prepared for the introduction of 
the church in its appointed station. The very same in- 
flux of life from the Lord which is hastening His church 
on to its mature state, is by the evil being perverted, 
and just as rapidly hastening their class on towards the 
full and fearful consummation of e^dl, now near at hand. 
Thus the two classes are rapidly gromng apart, in sym- 
pathy and in the outer life. And to the careless ob- 
server, it would seem that the evil class is developing m 
numbers, and rapidly gaining a controlling influence in 
every direction^ in the affairs of men. And in regard to 
all the external activities, and overshadowing business 
operations, particularly in the political and social move- 
ments of the nations and peoples, it is only too true. 
This class of men, moved only by love of self and the 
world, push themselves to the front, and win popular 
favor by plausible professions of interest in the welfare 
of the people, and thus gain a controlling influence. 
While, on the other hand, those who are inspired only by 
love to the Lord and the neighbor, being clothed wath 
humility, generally have Httle inclination to push them- 
selves, choosing rather some lowly station, and accepting 
important pubhc duties, only when earnestly called to 
the front by others. 

But I want to emphasize the fact, as I believe it to be, 
that those who are living the true Christian life, being 
strictly upright and just in all their relations with others, 
are growing in true spirituality, and consequently in 
influence in every direction tending to advance the 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 83 

Lord 's kingdom among men. A remnant, composed of a 
goodly number, is being prepared by the Lord, to come 
to the front, when they hear the bugle call to move for- 
ward, as did the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half- 
tribe of Manasseh, under Joshua. And as these forty 
thousand mighty men of valor, signifying a large but in- 
definite number of Christian warriors, who have passed 
through a full state of spiritual temptation, march to the 
front, a great host, ' ' a mixed multitude, ' ' less active and 
conspicuous, will take courage, and fall into line ready 
for duty. That is, there are great multitudes of men 
and women, who have not been distinguished as Chris- 
tians, who nevertheless are inmostly rooted and grounded 
in good — ^in love to the Lord and the neighbor, who are 
only waiting for true environments, and to hear the real 
gospel call, to respond for active service. Thus the New 
Christian Church when brought into a state to receive the 
baptism of the Spirit, will set out for the conquest of the 
world to the Lord, with the number added to the Apos- 
tolic Church, on the day of Pentecost, many times in- 
creased, and more fully endued with power from on high. 
Then the world 's great jubilee will be celebrated, and the 
triumphant hosts of the New Heaven will draw near, 
and mingle their songs and their joys, with the songs of 
the redeemed sons of earth. 

But what of the multitudes who seem to gather 
strength in evil, with every passing year, which they 
freely use to obstruct principles of truth and justice? 
Turning to the writings of Swedenborg we read: 
'^Wherefore in the present case, to come down to see, 



84 THE NEW CANAAN. 

signifies judgment. Judgment is spoken of as taking 
place when evil is brought to its height, or as it is ex- 
pressed in the Word/ when it has come to its consumma- 
tion, or when iniquity is consummated. The case herein 
is this. All evil has its boundaries, or limits, as far as it 
is permitted to go : but when it is carried beyond these 
limits, the guilty party runs into the punishment of evil, 
and this both in general and particular cases. The 
punishment of evil is what is then called judgment. 
And as it appears at first as though the Lord did not see 
or notice the existence of evil, for when man does evil 
with impunity, he supposes that the Lord does not re- 
gard it; but when he comes to suffer punishment, he 
then first thinks that the Lord sees him, yea that the 
Lord punishes him, therefore it is said, according to such 
appearance, that Jehovah came down to see.'' A. C. 
1311, 1857, and other places. 

By this and many similar passages, it seems that in 
the natural world, as in the spiritual world, evil when 
carried beyond the prescribed limits, runs into punish- 
ment. Hence this judgment upon the church, executed 
by the same truths of the Word, as was that in the spir- 
itual world, though moving much slower in accordance 
with the sluggish faculties of man in the flesh, mil never- 
theless advance steadily, and with ever increasing mo- 
mentum, till it has achieved results throughout Christen- 
dom, similar to those effected by the judgment in the 
spiritual world, and it will be inexorable in its operations, 
suffering no evil to escape its searching light. It will 
penetrate every city, town and rural hamlet, with fault- 



ON TO THE JORDAN. 85 

less discrimination laying bare the true state of the 
whole people. It will uncover and call into active life 
states of good in all who inmostly love the Lord and the 
neighbor, and, as well, will call into the life the real 
states of those who reject the Lord and the gospel offer 
of salvation from sin and death. And this exploration 
of the individual states of the people, will result in a 
further separation in the Church, between the true and 
the false, and the good and the evil. All hypocrisy will 
be unmasked and exposed, and, on the other hand, all 
that is true and good will be taken at its own intrinsic 
value. It will draw together in distinct societies the 
incorrigibly evil, on the one hand, and, on the other the 
true and the good. All men will be compelled to line up 
according to their real principles. Deadly hatred will 
be manifested by the evil towards the true Christian, and 
will probably break out in open violence, and this will 
hasten the final result, which will be the separation of 
the evil from the good, perhaps in a manner correspond- 
ing to that which occurred in the judgment in the spir- 
itual world. 

And notwithstanding the prevalent thought seems 
to be that the world of mankind is to continue, as 
at present peopling both the heavens and the hells, 
it would seem clear that when a class of men become 
hopelessly corrupt and incorrigible, as in several 
instances recorded in the Bible and in the writings, 
mercy would seem to require their removal from the 
natural world, when the judgment is fully consummated, 
and the glorious church which is to crown the ages, is 



86 THE NEW CANAAN. 

here, ready with open arms to receive every wiUing 
soul, and thus put a stop to the propagation of an evil 
race, whose inevitable destiny, if continued, is to people 
the hells. 



vin. 

THE HOSTS OF ISRAEL FOLLOW THE ARK. 



In following the representation of the children of 
Israel under the leadership of Moses, we find little upon 
which the Christian mind of the twentieth century can 
dwell with pleasure. Almost the entire representation 
is of the backslidings and imperfections of a stiff-necked 
people, the contemplations of which affords pleasure 
only in the promise it gives of better things when the 
Lord shall come to build his church anew. But in fol- 
lowing the representation of the same people under the 
leadership of Joshua, the conditions are reversed, and we 
find a long series of representations which bring to view 
scenes as bright as ever gladdened the heart of man in 
the golden age of the past. The new representation 
gives promise of a deathless age, in which the highest 
aspirations of men shall be realized. Indeed, so bright, 
so full of promise, and so triumphant is the state of our 
race, as representatively and prophetically brought to 
view, as to stagger the faith, and blind the vision of the 
men of to-day, save the few little ones to whom the 
mysteries of the kingdom are revealed in the Word. 
And of all the prophetic enunciations of the Bible, 
touching the future of our race, none are more replete 
with promise than that which we now approach, the 

87 



88 THE NEW CANAAN. 

turning back upon themselves, the waters of the Jordan, 
and the safe passage of the host of Israel under Joshua. 

As we have frequently stated, the Israelites under 
Joshua, in being led out of the wilderness, and across 
the Jordan, and into the peaceful possession of the prom- 
ised land, represent the transition of the church and 
world from the state of imrest and bitter strife which 
has characterized the entire human race ever since 
Noah was shut in the ark to continue till the lost state 
is restored, and the universal reign of peace and good- 
will becomes world-wide and perfect. 

But lest the character of this change should be mis- 
imderstood by the reader, let me again state, as is clearly 
represented in the history itself, that it will not be a 
sudden and starthng change, regardless of the laws of 
the Divine Order, lifting the world at once into a perfect 
state. It simply turns back the flood of falsity and evil, 
that the fallen race may return to the lost state of in- 
tegrity, and that the long closed channel of influx from 
the Lord, through an internal way into, and through the 
will, may be restored. The process, to those who are 
passing through it, will seem too slow, and w^ill sometimes 
severely test the patience and faith of those watching for, 
and longing for the glorious consummation. But it will 
be realized just as soon and fast as the church can be pre- 
pared for it. This change will prepare the way for the 
process of regeneration to advance steadily and rapidly, 
according to the Divine and original order for regenera- 
tion in the individual man, and in the composite man — 
universal society. And after the new state is inau- 



FOLLOWING THE ARK. 89 

gurated as represented by the tribes of Israel, as they 
quietly settle down in their respective lots, not only 
will there be rapid growth in the church proper, that 
is in the church where the word is, but all the great 
outlying regions of the earth, will rapidly come into 
order. Truly ''He [the Lord] shall not fail nor be 
discouraged till He hath set judgment in the earth; 
and the isles of the sea shall wait His law" (Isa. 
42, 4). But this rapid and triumphant coming of the 
Lord's kingdom, is brought to \dew in Lsaiah 11, 12, 
in language so clear that none but the bHnd can fail 
to see it, even in the letter. ''And it shall come to 
pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again 
the second time, to recover the remnant of His people 
which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and 
from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from 
Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands of the 
Sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and 
shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together 
the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the 
earth.". 

Thus we may see that in this new state, there T\dll be 
those in every stage of development in the regenerative 
process. But love and the will of good wiU be dominant 
throughout the church, w^hile the understanding and 
Divine Truth will be called into vigorous action, inspired 
by love to the Lord and the neighbor. It mil not then 
be hke rowing up stream against a strong current, as it 
has been in the closing dispensation. It mil be a steady 
and normal growth in things good and true. 



90 THE NEW CANAAN. 

Under the leadership of Moses, the representation of 
Israel was of the first Christian Church, wliich in its best 
states was imperfect and unsatisfactory. It was never 
intended as a finality, but only to prepare the way for 
the true Christian Church which was to follow. And in 
the change of leaders from Moses to Joshua, the repre- 
sentation of the Israelites was entirely changed, and they 
began to represent a distinctively New Church, in a 
higher degree of fife, though at first only in its early and 
imperfect beginnings. But the New Church which we 
now consider, though at first imperfect, and with almost 
ever3rtliing to learn both as to theory and practice, is 
nevertheless radically different from the one we leave be- 
hind. It is to be a celestial church, that is of the celes- 
tial type or genus, which however does not mean that 
all in it are perfect, or even in an advanced stage of re- 
generation, but that they have some integrity of will, 
and are receiving influx from the Lord by the restored 
internal way, and are making true and rapid progress. 
Now it should be understood that all men are born 
natural, and it follows that there will always be per- 
sons in this church passing through the different stages 
of regeneration, as they did in the Most Ancient Church. 
(See Gen. 1st.) 

Swedenborg states that the will of the man of the An- 
cient Church formed in the days of Noah, was totally 
destroyed, and separated from the intellectual part. 
Thus the only medimn of influx from the Lord, by ' ' an 
internal way, ' ' was closed, and his salvation was possible 
only by approaching him through the external man. 



FOLLOWING THE ABK. 91 

Hence it was for the redemption of this closed man or 
church, that the ^'Lord bowed the heavens and came 
down. ' ' 

But while the will was totally destroyed in a large 
part of the human family, particularly in the white race, 
among those of whom the Apostolic Church was princi- 
pally established, we further learn from the same source, 
that various remnants of the Most Ancient Church were 
preserved in different parts of the world, as was shown 
in a former Chapter. The preparation for this change 
from the Spiritual Church to the Celestial, is the great 
work which under the Divine guidance, has been car- 
ried on with tireless energy and patience, ever since 
the beginning of the Christian era, indeed, taking a 
broad view of the subject, ever since the fall. This has 
largely consisted in providing a little remnant of sound- 
ness in the will, and thus preparing the way for the re- 
establishment of the influx from the Lord, by the in- 
ternal way, that is directly into the remnant of good 
prepared in the will, and thence through the rationality, 
into the external man and life. Wlien this opening 
by the intellectual way has been effected by the Lord, 
in the man and in the church, or as far as it is effected, 
the celestial type is restored, and regeneration advances 
under the sweet constraints of love, rather than under 
the mandates of law. 

In A. C. 4581, it is said: ''They who are brought to 
good through an internal way are in the good of love; 
but they who are brought through an external way, are 
in the good of faith; the men of the Celestial Church, 



92 THE NEW CANAAN. 

like the angels of the inmost or third heaven, are in the 
good of love ; but the men of the Spiritual Church, like 
the angels of the middle or second heaven, are in the 
good of faith ; hence the former is called the celestial good, 
but the latter spiritual. The difference is the same as 
between willing well from a principle of good-will, and 
willing well from good understanding." — The restora- 
tion of the will, will be considered in a chapter devoted 
to that subject. 

In considering the significance of crossing the Jordan, 
it should be borne in mind that the land of Canaan was 
the seat or home of the Most Ancient Chm-ch, and for 
that reason, as the writings tell us, it has in a good sense, 
always represented the Celestial Church. Then it ap- 
pears evident that by the people 's being led over the Jor- 
dan and into possession of Canaan, the change from the 
Spiritual to the Celestial Church is represented. And the 
history of the entrance, as contained in the third chapter 
of Joshua, in its internal sense, fills the thoughtful mind 
with astonishment and awe, and leaves no doubt but 
that the change in the church here represented, has a 
world-wide significance. But interesting and instructive 
as every sentence is, I must pass over all the introductory 
part, prior to the history of the dividing waters, save to 
touch lightly upon two or three essential statements, 
which have a direct bearing on our main subject, the 
representation of the coming Celestial Church, and its 
endless duration. 

When the state of preparation for crossing the Jordan, 
indicated by the three days was full, the officers went 



FOLLOWING THE ARK. 93 

through the host, and commanded the people, ^^ Say- 
ing when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord 
your God, and the priests, the Levites bearing it, then 
ye shall remove from your place and go after it. " The 
ark and the Law inclosed in it, represent the Lord as the 
Divine Truth. (A. E. 700.) The lesson in brief is this : 
when one state in the development of the regenerate 
life is made full, and the truth points out the way to a 
new and higher state, and kindles in the affection an 
ardent desire to attain to it, then we are to move on 
whithersoever the Ark leads, but not in a precipitate or 
inconsiderate manner, but only as by careful examin- 
ation, we clearly see the way, for, as the Word tells us, 
we have not before passed that way. Every new state 
in the regenerate life brings new experiences, and 
there is much to learn if we would move forward safely 
and pleasantly. Inconsiderate and hasty movements 
might prove disastrous. We are to keep a certain dis- 
tance from the Ark, and to move as it moves. We are 
to carefully examine and estimate the quality of our 
lives, as to good and truth. The instruction here 
given, is adapted to any church, when it has filled the 
measure of life on our plane, or in one degree, and is 
ready to set out in search of a still higher and better 
state. As guided by the ark of the covenant, that is by 
the Divine Truth, the church, or the man of the church is 
to move steadily forward. It is to follow the ark at a 
safe distance, that every step of the way may be seen 
and examined in advance. 

And the people before they can be prepared to pass 



94 THE NEW CANAAN. 

over into the Celestial Canaan, must sanctify them- 
selves. This includes the putting away of every evil 
thing, with the definite purpose to be obedient to the 
Lord at all times and to be led by Him. This sanctifi- 
cation of the will does not permit of compromises, a 
whole offering is required. And as a reason for the 
sanctification it is said, ^' for tomorrrow the Lord will do 
wonders among you." Tomorrow signifies to eternity. 
And it is clearly the church upon earth that is referred 
to, and that is being represented. Forever, as applied 
to a church upon earth, can only mean the New Dis- 
pensation of the Christian Church, not in a sectarian, 
but universal sense, for the true New Church will in- 
clude all whose internal spirit and life are derived 
from the Lord, through the New Heavens. This true 
and broad and universal church, as we are repeatedly 
told in the Word and in the writings, is to be the crown 
of all the churches, that is the highest and the best. 

In the Arcana Ccelestia, 3727, it is said : ^ ' Inasmuch 
as altars were representative of all the good of worship, 
and the Jewish church was instituted that it might re- 
present the Celestial Church, which acknowledged no 
other truth than what was grounded in good, which is 
called celestial truth, for it was not willing in the least 
to separate truth from good, insomuch that it was not 
willing to name anything of faith or truth unless it 
thought concerning good and this by virtue of good." 
The Israelites in the wilderness, where they received 
the law, and where the rituals of the Jewish Church 
were promulgated, represented the Spiritual Church, 



FOLLO WING THE ARK. 95 

but when they passed into Canaan, they began to re- 
present the Celestial Church, as we have just seen. 
Then it is clearly in the Church of the New Jerusalem, 
now being formed, among her happy people, that the 
Lord will do wonders, the sweetest and best of which is 
that He will dwell among them, and in them, they 
being His people, and He being their God. This is 
enough. The most fertile imagination can picture 
no higher good, no fuller joy. For where our Glorified 
Redeemer dwells, sin and sorrow can never come. 

One other important lesson, as well as cheering prom- 
ise demands our attention before we consider the 
dividing waters, and the safe crossing of the Israelites 
into Canaan. The priests, in obedience to the command 
of Joshua, took up the ark of the covenant and went 
before the people. Then the Lord said unto Joshua, 
'^ This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all 
Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, 
so will I be with thee." As has been frequently stated, 
Joshua signifies truth combatting, that is truth vitalized 
by being filled with the fire of heavenly love, some- 
thing as water in a boiler becomes a tremendous power, 
when fire is applied to it, and it is changed into steam. 

It was when the priests took up the ark and began 
to move, that the quickening influx of heavenly love, 
filled the truth vessels, and the conditions being thus 
met, the miraculous power descended, dividing the 
waters and giving Israel a triumphant passage into the 
promised land. By this we are taught that when the 
New Church comes into the state of faith and dutiful 



96 THE NEW CANAAN. 

obedience represented, that is when the people sanctify 
themselves, by putting away their evils, and by freely 
falling into line, to be led by the Lord, when the truth 
filled with love, inspires in them great desires to rise up 
at once, and cross the river and possess the land, then 
the dark waters will be turned back, and a safe passage 
opened to the land of promise. 

But before this movement can get under headway, 
there must be a recognition of the great leading truth 
principle, given for this purpose, not only in these 
wonderful representative prophecies, so replete with 
information even in regard to every particular, but also 
in the equally clear and definite instructions given by 
the prophets in many places, and above all, by the 
statements of the Lord in person, and through John 
in the Isle of Patmos. There needs to be an earnest 
and a careful investigation of all these most helpful 
scriptures, which shed floods of light upon this great 
question of the Celestial Church, fraught with tre- 
mendous importance to the church of to-day. And we 
need the great truth reiterated, that the Reubenites, 
the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, mighty 
men of faith, must lead the way, and inspire with 
confidence and courage all the Israel of God. The 
strange delusion which has blinded the eyes of the 
people, that there is no better state for the church, that 
it is simply to continue as at present forever, at least 
for ages which may not be numbered, on the same low 
plane of life, — I say this delusion, these dark waters of 
falsity must be turned back to the abyss whence they 



FOLLOWING THE ARK. 97 



came, and the Israel of God must have faith, and prove 
themselves men of heroic courage, not hesitating and 
doubting Thomases, ready to skulk when duty says 
move forward. 

In the movements of the priests with the ark, as 
they advance towards the Jordan and into it, a state 
of human life is represented in which every department 
of the man, from the inmost — ^the heavens of the mind, 
to the ultimate things of life in the natural man, is 
filled with the power of love united with its own truth, 
and expressing itself in heavenly deeds. The priests 
bore up the ark on their shoulders, which represent all 
their power, while their feet rested upon the ground, 
thus representing the whole man, as filled with the 
power of Divine Truth, as united with heavenly love. 
Without this power, this indwelling life of the Lord, 
representatively filhng both priests and people, the 
priests setting their feet in the brim of the water, would 
have had no power to stay the flood, and to open a 
safe passage through them. 

But before we can take in the wonderful meaning of 
the dividing waters, we must understand what was 
represented by the Jordan, at the time this miracle 
was wrought. Canaan as the home of the Most An- 
cient Church, as has been before stated, represented the 
people of the Golden Age. But the people of that 
church, forsook the Lord, and fell into the most de- 
plorable states of falsity and evil. And the inhabi- 
tants of Canaan, for long ages had been gross idolaters, 

given to all manner of evil, and turning the land into a 
7 



98 THE NEW CANAAN. 

spiritual waste. At the time of which we now write, so 
deep had become the corruption, that the Lord saw 
that it would be a mercy to them to permit their re- 
moval from the earth, as they had fallen into such 
states that there was no hope of reformation. Hence 
while they dwelt in the land it represented the opposite 
of heaven, that is the land from its evil inhabitants 
represented hell. And the waters of the Jordan 
through which the land must be entered, represented 
those evil waters, which received into the life, lead 
inevitably to the hells. But the Israelites could enter 
their promised inheritance only by crossing the Jordan. 
And so the church in its present wilderness state, can 
be re-established in its old celestial inheritance, only 
by passing over this Jordan whose waters are deadly 
falsities. Hence in the formation of the Representa- 
tive Church in the land of Canaan, the representation 
could only be made full, by leading the Israelites 
across the Jordan, by the miraculous power of the 
Lord dividing the waters, and then leading them safely 
through and into their possession. Thus the power of 
the Lord over all falsity and evil, in the great redemption 
He wrought out for our race, is brought to view in this 
representative act, in a most impressive manner. And 
what is most wonderful, these overflowing waters of 
falsity and evil, were not only divided to let the people, 
there and then pass safely through, but the waters 
which came down from above, stood, and rose up a heap, 
it is said, very far from the city Adam, that is beside 
Zaretan ; and those that came down towards the sea of 



FOLLOWING THE ARK. 99 

the plain, the Salt Sea, failed and were cut off. Thus 
we are taught that these deadly waters were rolled back, 
never to return, and by the great event here drama- 
tized, we are taught that when this great transitional 
period, this crossing over or through the dark waters, 
which have long flooded the world, in this dread har- 
vest time of sin and death is completed, that then God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there 
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain, for the former 
things are passed away. (Rev. 21, 4.) 

The divided waters of the Jordan represent all the 
false doctrines which men have formed for themselves 
since the fall, and far removed are they indeed, from 
the simple and beautiful doctrines of celestial love 
and innocence, as held by the Adamic people in the 
days of old. 

But at the mere threshold of the internal meaning 
of this marvelous historical incident, I pause ! I believe 
the time will come when the man of the new Celes- 
tial Church will go down into the deep waters con- 
cealed beneath these surface expressions, and bring up 
shining pearls of Celestial truth which will cause the 
angels of the heavens, and the men of the church in 
all worlds, to unite in loud acclaims of praise to Him 
who reigns in His glorified Humanity over a conquered 
and loyal universe. And perchance trembling and dis- 
tant vibrations may pass down, down, into the dark 
world beneath, and touch some responsive chord in 
the hearts of the lost, causing them to listen, to look 

LofC. 



100 THE NEW CANAAN. 

up, insphing new desires, and even awakening faith that 
may be able to pass out of the dark, into the Hght of 
some humble and loyal service — ^mark you, I do not 
say that these things can, or T\ill happen, but if they 
should, who in all the wide universe, unless it be some 
human monster in the shades of night, would say 
na}^? We will leave the question ^ith the All Wise, 
All Good, and All Merciful One, and wait, knowing that 
He will do more and better by every creature of 
His hand, than we could desire or think, or ask. 

This miracle of turning back the waters of the flooded 
Jordan, viewed even on the natural plane, assumes a 
stupendous grandeur, which the human mind can 
scarcely grasp. It is said: '' For the Jordan overfloweth 
all his banks all the time of harvest. '' "WTien we remem- 
ber that the Jordan is a rapid mountain stream, and 
that it was already overflomng all the lowland, the 
mass of waters wliich would collect would be enormous, 
unless controlled by the same miraculous power which 
turned them back. Writers who have studied the sub- 
ject, tell us that the Israehtes, numbering probably 
about three millions, could not have crossed the Jordan 
in less than three days. And during all this time, 
the waters of the overflowing river were turned back. 
And now, in the time represented, as the Lord's people 
obediently move forward, these evil waters are cut off, 
and turned back. As the Lord's power produced these 
results on the material plane, so in the restoration of 
the church to its lost heritage the power of the Lord 



FOLLOWING THE ABK. 101 

in His glorified Humanity, will turn back the tide of 
evil, and open a safe passage for every faithful soul. 

The waters which flowed down toward the sea of 
the plain were cut off. This Salt Sea represents the 
same as the Red Sea, that is hell. The plain bordering 
on the sea represents the evils of the natural man, as 
when under the immediate and destructive falsities 
which flow out from the hells. The state brought to 
view, is that of the natural man when under the domi- 
nant influence of falsity and evil, with no restraining 
influx from the Lord, through the internal way, to 
turn them back. But now these evil waters are cut 
off as the hosts of the Christian Israel cross that which 
is represented by the Jordan, and they cease to flow 
into the minds of men. And as the miraculous power 
of the Lord produced these marvelous results in the 
world of matter, so in the state represented, the restora- 
tion of the church to its last heritage, the Canaan 
of Celestial love and hfe, as particularly represented 
in the New Jerusalem, descending from God out of 
heaven, the omnipotence of the Lord in his glorified 
Humanity, will roll back the tide of falsity and evil, 
which now in these judgment times, floods the world, 
by His own power, and dry up, or seal up those evil 
waters that they may curse the earth no more. ^ 



IX. 

THE TWO PILLARS. 



In passing over into Canaan as a body, the Israelites 
represent the change of the church from the Spiritual 
to the Celestial, which change has been a gradual and 
somewhat slow process, largely by means of an im- 
proved heredity, which in some particulars will be set 
forth, from the writings of the church, in another place. 
And crossing the Jordan also represents, in a general 
way, the process of regeneration in the individual, by 
means of which one of the celestial type passes into a 
fully developed celestial life. This individual process 
in the outset, has the benefit of the improved heredity 
secured for the church as a body, with all the advantages 
secured from abundant remains of good and truth, 
stored up in infancy and youth, and may be carried 
forward so successfully as to reach the blessed sabbath 
state, in the present life, and even long before its close. 
The glorification of the Lord is a type of man's regenera- 
tion, and that work in the Lord was accomplished 
when he was about thirty-three years old. And as man 
is regenerated wholly by the power of the Lord, it seems 
clear that this work, the antitype of the Lord's glorifica- 
tion, does not necessarily require more natural time. 
In other words, man being willing, the Lord caii accom- 

102 



THE TWO PILLARS. 103 



plish in him the work of regeneration, in a time no 
longer than was required in His own glorification. As 
evidence that the Lord's glorification is a type of man's 
regeneration, I quote from the Arcana Coelestia, No. 
7166: ''For the glorification of the Lord is an ensample 
or type of the regeneration of man." Again in A. C. 
4353: ''But as the regeneration of man is an image of 
the Lord's glorification, therefore also, the regeneration 
of man is at the same time treated of in the internal 
'sense; and whereas regeneration may fall into man's 
idea, but not the Lord's glorification, it is allowable to 
illustrate the latter by the former." 

The first conspicuous representative lesson brought 
to view after passing over the river, is in connection 
with the two pillars which were built by the Lord's 
command, one in the midst of the river, and the other 
at Gilgal, where they first camped. Twelve men were 
chosen, a man from each tribe, each of whom was to 
take a stone on his shoulder, from the midst of the 
river, where the priests stood, and carry it to the first 
place of encampment. Then Joshua built a pillar of 
twelve stones in the midst of the river, and afterwards 
he built another, of the twelve stones carried to the 
camp at Gilgal. The twelve stones in both cases 
represent the truths of the Word as fundamental prin- 
ciples, or rather as formulated in true doctrines, as 
guides and way-marks, leading into the heavenly 
Church, and showing how the rich treasures of the 
kingdom may be secured. Or more specifically, the 
pillars built by Joshua represent the great doctrinal 



104 THE NEW CANAAN. 

truths of the Word as given by the Lord to Swedenborg, 
every one of which was drawn from the Word; and built 
up and joined together in the pillars, strong as Gibraltar, 
which will stand through all coming ages, as memorials 
and guides, for all the Lord's people. 

In the church after reaching a mature state, there 
will be marvelous truth perceptions flowing into the 
minds of men, such as are not now dreamed of, even 
by men of great intellectual and spiritual insight. This 
will all be in the line of the providence and order of the 
Lord. But there must be safeguards against receiving 
falsity as truth, and against mistaking the real import 
of fractional truth perceptions. There must be a con- 
stant appeal to the law and the testimony. And these 
pillars of divine truth, established from the Word in 
its letter, built of twelve stones, that is embracing all 
fundamental truth as revealed by the Lord for the use 
of men in the natural world, as testing principles accord- 
ing to which all truth may be judged, and arranged in 
order. 

Now it may be said that it is enough merely to appeal 
to the Word in its letter, and test everything by it, 
without any formulated doctrine. But that is just 
what the Christian world has claimed to do for two 
thousand years, and the result is manifest to all. The 
letter of the Word, by even good and intelligent men 
is interpreted according to the doctrinal principles they 
recognize. But in these pillars, as built by one who 
was called and specially illuminated by the Lord for 
that very purpose, guided in every step taken, and to 



THE TWO PILLARS. 105 

every conclusion reached, by the Lord Himself, the 
universal truth, as revealed to men in the letter of the 
Word, is arranged, and brought together in these 
twelve stones, systemized, and built up in concise 
and exact form, to which appeal may be made in every 
emergency, and which gives forth no uncertain sound. 
The waters of the Jordan in a good sense represent 
the truths of the church universal, that is the truths of 
the Word. And the stones from the river as built up 
into a pillar, by Joshua, represent all the truths of the 
Word, brought into compact and simple doctrinal 
statements, as a memorial and guide for all people, in 
all coming ages, and teach that by means of these truths, 
all falsity and evil may be turned away from the church, 
and as well from the humblest individual who has made 
^'his defense the munitions of rocks. ^^ The pillar in the 
river stands as a memorial for all coming generations, 
that the power of the Word is in its letter, as filled with 
spirit and life from the Lord, and that it will turn back 
every falsity and evil from the faithful, and give perfect 
immunity from harm. And this memorial will stand 
long after the dark shadow of the world's terrible 
experience lesson with falsity and evil has passed 
forever awav. It will stand in the Jordan, where the 
floods of falsity were long wont to flow, but, now in the 
waters of the river of life, which flow down from the 
mount of God, and fill to the brim the old channel, as 
in the days of Adam, long after all the Canaan of earth 
has become a paradise, where dwell securely celestial 
people, amid peace and plenty, for the sound of devastat- 



106 THE NEW CANAAN. 

ing war shall no more be heard among the kingdoms of 
earth. And in distant ages, when the heavens shall 
descend to the earth as the internal soul and life of 
the perfected Church, and express themselves corre- 
spondentially on the natural plane, when the children, 
the innocent but wise people of those happy times, 
see these pillars, the rough stones which represent the 
letter of the Word, standing as the defense against 
forms of falsity and evil, long since passed away from 
earth, and almost forgotten, they will listen with bated 
breath to the story of sin and death in by-gone ages, 
and reverently bow their heads as thej^ turn to the 
commandments, so solemn, so stern, and say ''all that 
the Lord hath spoken, we will hear and do. " 

But why were two pillars built, each of twelve stones, 
one in the Jordan, and the other at Gilgal on the dry 
land? The pillars, apart from the places where they 
stood, represented the same thing, that is all the truths 
of the church, as drawn from the Word in doctrinal 
and practical forms; and in a broader sense, the letter 
of the Word set up as a memorial to be observed for- 
ever. But by the two pillars, the one planted in the 
river, and the other at Gilgal, the first resting place in 
the land, essentially different uses of the truths of the 
Word are represented. The one built in the river, and 
first built, has relation particularly to the power of 
Divine Truth, as a protection against falsity and evil. 
But the second has relation rather to doing good, that 
is to the practical use of the truth in ultimates, as foun- 
dation stones on which all the structure of a heavenly 



THE TWO PILLARS. 107 

life must rest. The stones of the second pillar were 
taken from the same place in the river as those of the 
first, that is from the place where the priests stood, who 
bore up the ark of the Covenant, representing the foun- 
dation on which all the goods and truth of the. Church, 
and as well the foundation on which the heavens rest, 
and must forever rest. 

The twelve stones were by command carried, one on 
the shoulder of each representative man, chosen from 
their respective tribes. Now the shoulder represents the 
full power of the man. It is that part of his body on 
which he can bear the heaviest burden. Hence, carry- 
ing the stone on the shoulder teaches that those who are 
called to enter upon the work of laying the fundamental 
principles of the heavenly church, should do honest and 
thorough work. For to get a sure foundation laid in the 
life is well worth an earnest effort. And this pillar 
must be built up in every one in whom the church is to 
be formed, and it requires all the twelve stones. Each 
stone represents an essential truth principle, which 
branches out into a multitude of lesser and subordinate 
truths. And each of these has a particular use to 
serve, a mission of its own to fill. The importance of 
all these foundation stones finding a place in the life of 
each one, and in the active life of the church as a com- 
posite body, must be apparent, and cannot be over- 
estimated, for the essential qualities of the life will be 
determined by the foundation. By the truths repre- 
sented by these two pillars, one is not only restrained 
and protected from wrong doing, he is also urged for- 



108 THE NEW CANAAN. 

ward in right doing. And when with love to the Lord, 
and love to the neighbor, as active principles within us, 
and with our affections kindled into a flame of heavenly 
zeal, and urging us out into active uses, they show us 
that our love and zeal should not go forth on an aimless 
mission as one that beateth the air, but that they should 
ever be guided by the twelve cardinal principles which 
branch out from the stone pillars, and touch the life at 
every point. They teach us that love alone, without 
its own truth, is vapid, and will be barren of permanent 
good results. Every form of heavenly love works by 
means of truth. Love creates the activity, the power, 
and the inspiration, but truth must guide and con- 
serve that power if it is made effective. Truth is the 
form and external clothing of good. And it is not only 
the form as expressive in outward deeds, it may also 
be termed an external membrane which envelops and 
protects good, and holds it together in true form. And 
by means of these truth principles as contained in the 
letter of the Word, good or love is held in its true rela- 
tion to all the activities of life. The truth arranges 
plans and guides all the movements of the heavenly 
life, so as to make them harmonious, and to work out 
the best possible results without loss or friction. 

The Celestial Church — ^the church of love, will need and 
will have vastly more truth than it were possible for a 
spiritual church to have. Love prepares the way for 
truth, and draws it b}^ spiritual affinity, or heavenly 
attraction to itself, and then fills it with its own vitality. 
And not only so, love enlarges the capacity to receive 



THE TWO PILLARS. 109 

immensely, and brings all the powers of the under- 
standing into a fuller and more active life. Indeed it 
is the active principle in all heavenly life, and as it flows 
in directly from the Lord, it is the only life of the soul. 
It is to the intellectual part, what the fire under the 
boiler of a steam engine is to the power and movements 
of the machine. 

In the Word we read : ' ' Forever, Lord, Thy Word 
is established in the heavens. ' ' And when the times 
and states represented by crossing the Jordan and tak- 
ing possession of Canaan have fully come, it will then 
be said: '^ Forever, Lord, thy word is established 
upon the earth." And here we may see the difference 
there will be between the Celestial Church of old, and 
the coming Celestial Church, which shall endure forever. 
In the Adamic Church men were in love to God, and in 
mutual love, and their interiors were open, so that they 
not only received consciously an influx of life from the 
Lord, but many of them, perhaps most of them, were 
what the world now calls seers, that is, having internal 
respiration in connection with the angels of heaven, 
their spiritual senses were opened more or less to the 
wonders of the heavens, as the bodily senses are opened 
to the things of the natural world, by natural respira- 
ation. But while largely developed on the spiritual or 
internal plane, in all pure, innocent and heavenly 
affections, on the natural plane, outside their spiritual 
consciousness, they were scarcely developed at all, 
being much like children in all external knowledge. 
The natural rationality which is formed by means of 



110 THE NEW CANAAN. 

scientifics, that is by a knowledge of external things 
derived through the bodily senses, remained almost 
entirely undeveloped. And indeed, with the wonders 
of the spiritual world open to them, it is not strange 
that they took little interest in those external things 
which seem so important to men in tliis materiahstic 
age. And their knowledge of heavenly things could only 
be brought down to the plane of the external life in the 
world, and made stable, by their being made famiUar 
with the things of the external natural world, and with 
weU established truth principle, such as are repre- 
sented by the pillars which Joshua set up. In this de- 
fective knowledge of the outside world, and of the 
things pertaining to the hfe that now is, lay their weak- 
ness, while in the estabhshment of these granite pillars 
of ultimate truth in the incoming church, may be found 
its Herculean strength and eternal safety. The people 
of the Most Ancient Church, on the earthly plane, being 
much hke innocent, but uninstructed children, were not 
able to meet the cunning of e^dl men and devils, and as 
a consequence of this inexperience, sin was introduced 
into the world, T\-ith all its deadly consequences, and they 
fell. And so great was the fall, that every imagination 
of the thoughts of their heart was only e^il continually. 
But through the great redemption -^Tought out by 
the Lord in His assumed Humanity, the prodigal race 
has been led back, almost to the Father's house, and is 
being rapicll}^ prepared to come into the blessed state 
of the Most Ancient Church, mth the added strength 
and wisdom resulting from the great experience of the 



THE TWO PILLARS. Ill 

bitter past. Through the mercy of the Lord, the 
truths of the Word are expressed in the language 
famihar to men, and will stand for all coming ages, as 
the pillars built by Joshua, as a perpetual guarantee of 
immunity from the falses and evils, representatively 
turned back in the waters of the Jordan, and as a 
promise of endless expansion in the church, of every 
thing good and true. In the incoming Age, as the 
people pass into true celestial conditions, and the influx 
from the Lord by an internal way is established, then 
the Word in ultimates, established on the natural plane, 
with its internal senses rising by discrete degrees, or 
steps, will constitute the ladder Jacob saw, resting 
upon the earth, while its top reached to heaven, the 
angels ascending and descending on it. The Lord stood 
above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham 
thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon 
thou liest [Canaan representing the Celestial Church] 
to thee I will give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed 
shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread 
abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north 
and to the south, and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all 
the families of the earth be blessed. '^ In these words, 
even in the letter, a marvelously beautiful prophecy of 
the growth and progress of the coming church is clearly 
outlined, while in the spiritual sense its expansion to 
the proportions of a world-wide heavenly church is 
portrayed. It is well for New Church people to re- 
member that the literal truths of the Word, received 
into the natural mind, are open vessels into which the 



112 THE NEW CANAAN. 



higher forms, and fuller expressions of truth may 
flow. Instead of feehng indifference toward the Hteral 
truths of the Word, they should be garnered in the mind 
as treasures of priceless value, for if these vessels are 
wanting, there can be little or no reception of the higher 
forms and degrees of truth. 

"\Miile there is reason to beUeve that the incoming age 
will be one of intuitive perception of truth, it is never- 
theless true, that the state of perception, mil be accord- 
ing to one's state as to good, and as to truth received 
from the Word, by means of which all influent truth 
may be tested, and brought into permanent form, and 
thus incorporated into the spiritual body. With the 
pillar of truth received from the Word, anci built up 
in the daily life, that is loved and cherished, whateA^er 
truth from the higher planes may be helpful in the life 
in the world, and in developing the higher faculties of 
the soul, wdll flow into the mind from the Lord, from 
time to time, as the uses of hfe require. But these per- 
ceptions need to be constantly tested by the Hteral 
truths of the Word, and held in harmony theremth. 
Indeed every true perception is only an expansion from 
the literal sense, and rightly apphed will harmonize with 
its ultimate on the external plane. Hence only such 
truths wiU flow into the mind, and be received, as 
harmonize \^dth the fundamental principles received 
from the Word into the life. 

Thus these truth piUars built of stones, taken from 
the Word, mil ever stand as bulwarks against such 
plausible falsities as the serpent nature insinuated into 



THE TWO PILLARS. 113 

the infantile mind of our race, thus turning paradise 
into a wilderness. The twelve stones, taken from the 
Jordan, representatively constitute the foundation of 
the church, and as well the foundation of the angelic 
heavens. They are the same as the twelve foundations 
of the walls of the New Jerusalem, in which the names 
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were inscribed. 
And these foundations on which the church rests, built 
of the rough stones of the letter, are nevertheless not 
uncomely, for they are garnished with all manner of 
precious stones. Indeed these great fundamental truths 
of the Word in its hteral sense, as the New Heavens 
rest down upon them, and in them, become translucent, 
twelve manner of stones most precious. For the truth, 
as received in its higher forms by the angels of heaven, 
flows down through the heavens, into the opened mind 
of the man of the Celestial Church, carrying light in all 
needed fullness to the outermost circumference of his 
being. 

But it is well for us to remember that the pillar built 
at Gilgal is only established by living the truth repre- 
sented. The ground where the feet of the priests rested, 
while bearing up the ark, signifies celestial good, brought 
down into the ultimate life in the natural world. The 
stones taken up are truths grounded in good in the life. 
They are the truths received from the Word, taken up 
and laid on the shoulder, and borne to the first encamp- 
ment, or resting place, and there laid down. Bearing 
them on the shoulder is earnestly and faithfully meeting 
all the common duties of life, patiently bearing the heat 



114 THE NEW CANAAN, 

and burden of the day till the allotted task is accom- 
plished, and then quietly laying the burden down, and 
entering into rest. In other words, the plain truths 
relative to life in the world are to be carefully observed 
till they are made one with the life, and thus cease to 
be a burden, and then the ^'reproach of Egypt is rolled 
off." The life in Egypt is a life of bondage to sin. It 
is an onerous servitude, and is indeed a reproach to 
any one, since the way to liberty has been opened to 
every servant of sin. The Lord says: ''And ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . . . 
And if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall 
be free indeed! " One has only to follow the truth, to 
obey it daily, to bear every burden it lays upon him, 
faithfully till it ceases to be a burden, when he finds 
rest and freedom. These symbolic stones are borne on 
the shoulder, when the truths they represent are in- 
teriorly loved, and applied faithfully to all the internal, 
hidden motives and purposes, as well as to the external 
conduct of life. Thus held and used the reproach of 
servitude passes away, and we receive the spirit of 
adoption, whereby we cry ''Abba, Father. " (Romans 8.) 



X. 

THE RITE OF CIRCUMCISION RENEWED AT 
GILGAL -REGENERATION BY LOVE. 



Having followed in outline the representative sig- 
nification of the Israelites under the leadership of 
Joshua across the Jordan, when the distinctive repre- 
sentation of the Celestial Church begins, it is now 
our pleasant task to note some of the progressive steps 
in the formation of the Church. 

The 'Hebrew race, as we have before seen, were from 
the call of Abraham to the Advent of the Lord, by 
Divine appointment, a representative people. They 
occupied a middle ground between the Ancient and de- 
scending Churches of the Old World, and the renascent 
churches, beginning with the Advent of the Lord, and 
extending to the universal and crowning church of 
the New Age. In the historical events as recorded 
in the Word, connected with Abraham and his posterity, 
every state of the universal church is represented, 
including its apparent deaths and resurrections, from 
the rise of the Most Ancient Church, till the New 
Jerusalem is fully established upon the earth. 

In the wilderness under Moses, the children of Israel 
represented the Spiritual Church, that is the church 
raised up in the days of Noah, after the will had been 

115 



116 THE NEW CANAAN. 

totally destroyed, and miraculously separated from 
the intellectual part by the Lord. (A. C. 2053 and 
many other places.) This church and the Christian 
Church, as to internal quahties, were essentially the 
same. In A. C. 10S3 we read: ''The internals of the 
Christian Church were precisely similar to those of the 
Ancient Chm-ch, but other externals, as the sacraments, 
succeeded to their sacrifices, &c., and had a like reference 
to the Lord, and thus again, internals and externals 
form together one church. The Ancient Church did 
not differ in the least from the Christian Church inter- 
naUy, but only externally." These two churches, 
which as we have just read from the \^Titings, were 
precisely ahke, were the onh^ churches of the Spiritual 
type, T\T.th closed interiors, which have existed, or ever 
's^ill exist upon the earth, and they as to interiors were 
one. Both of them have had their minor branches, but 
all these have maintained the distinctive spiritual type. 
But when the pecuhar people entered Canaan they 
ceased to represent the Spiritual Church, and began 
to represent the Celestial Church. And from this 
starting point in Canaan, the symbols used in the 
Word, in their early liistory, especially in describing 
their conquests, partook largely of chstinctively Celestial 
characteristics. That is such symbols were used as 
minutely described a Celestial Church and people, 
but would not be applicable to the Spiritual Church. 
Their new representation after entering into the land, 
is of the coming Xew Church, as described by John 
in the Apocalypse. 



BEGENEBA TION BY LOVE. 117 

The Celestial Church, that is the church of the dis- 
tinctively celestial type, having some measure of sound- 
ness in the will, even though it be very little, and 
receiving influx from the Lord by '^an internal way," 
is the only full and normal type of a church, and is 
fundamentally different from the Spiritual Church. 
The man of this church, to use Swedenborg's own lan- 
guage, ^^is regenerated by love/' that is he is regenerated 
as to the will part, and receives influx into the remnant 
of good, or celestial seed, remaining in the will part, 
though it be but very little. But the man of the 
Spiritual Church has no remaining soundness of will, 
nor is it possible for him to receive influx by an internal 
way, as that was closed up by the Lord, in great mercy, 
otherwise he would have perished inevitably, as did 
the antediluvians. His salvation was made possible 
only by the incarnation of the Lord. He receives truth 
through the external, which truth, after being collected 
in the memory, may be called up as he needs it in 
his life, if he chooses to use it. And if he repents, 
and the work of regeneration begins, he receives influx 
from the Lord, into his intellectual part, as it were 
by a side door, a discrete degree below the old will, 
into which the man of the Celestial Church receives 
influx from the Lord, and instead of the destroyed 
will being purified and regenerated, a new will is formed 
in the intellectual part, a discrete degree below the old 
will, by the truth received from without, into the under- 
standing. Hence the man of the Spiritual Church has 
two active degrees of life only, the will proper, or the 



118 THE NEW CANAAN. 

love degree, remaining permanently closed. It is im- 
portant to have the distinction between these two 
churches definitely fixed in the mind, as it is otherwise 
impossible to have clear and true thoughts in regard 
to them. This distinction is clearly set forth in A. C. 
2069, near the end, and reads thus: ''For the influx of 
the Lord's Divine Good can only have place with the 
celestial man, because it flows into his will part, as 
with the Most Ancient Church; whereas the influx of 
the Lord's Divine Truth has place with the spiritual 
man, because it flows only into his intellectual part, 
which in the spiritual man is separated from his mil 
part, (No. 2053 at the end,) or which is the same thing, 
the influx of celestial good has place with the celestial 
man, and that of spiritual good with the spiritual 
man; wherefore the Lord appears to the celestial 
angels as a sun, but to the spiritual as a moon. " This 
quotation, as well as many others of similar import, 
should be critically studied by the student who would 
have a clear understanding of the fundamental difference 
between the two churches. Scores of other passages 
in the writings teach the same things, but my limit 
will not permit of extended quotations. 

But it may be well to note here that the people 
to whom the Word was given, and among whom the 
Lord came, as well as the nations or races among 
which Christianity has become dominant, were practi- 
cally all of the spiritual type, the old will having been 
destroyed. 

We read in the Arcana Coelestia that: ''The Lord 



BEGENEBA TION BY LOVE. 119 

came into the world, not to save the celestial, but 
the spiritual." (A. C. 2661.) Hence He came to the 
spiritual in person, wrought out redemption in their 
midst, and gave the Word to them, but made no imme- 
diate and direct effort to reach the Celestial, as the 
Spiritual must first be brought under the influence 
of the gospel, and restored to their lost heritage. And 
Swedenborg often writes of the Christian world and 
of the Spiritual Church and people as though there 
were none else to consider. But to the careful student 
of his writings, it is made certain that he did not hold 
this view, nor teach it. On the contrary, he directly 
declares in various places, that remnants of the Most 
Ancient Church have continued to exist in considerable 
numbers, even in the same countries with those of the 
Spiritual type or genus. But reference has been made 
touching this point, and evidence from the writings cited 
elsewhere, to establish its truth. 

At the time Swedenborg wrote, a century and a half 
ago, he wrote as though those of the Spiritual Church 
were much more numerous than those of the Celestial 
Church. He said those of the Spiritual Church were 
^'several," while those of the '^Celestial Church were 
few." But it is believed that a great change in this 
direction has taken place, since the last Judgment was 
effected in the Spiritual world, about the middle of 
the eighteenth century. — But more of this further on. 

To one who is somewhat familiar with the general 
trend of thought, as expressed in the periodical literature 
of the New Church, it seems that many of our people 



120 THE NEW CANAAN. 

have no conception of the radically different process 
of regeneration, respectively in these distinct and unlike 
churches. The Spiritual man with his totally destroyed 
will, is constantly referred to as if he were all, while 
little if anything has been said in regard to regeneration 
by love. But the time is near, indeed is already here, 
when a clear understanding of the subject will be 
required by those who minister to the people in holy 
things, to meet the diverse needs of the people. 

There seems to be a common misconception of the 
characteristics of the Celestial Church, which needs 
to be mentioned in this connection. The fully re- 
generated Celestial Man, who has already reached 
the Sabbath state, and in whom all conflict has ceased, 
is taken as the type of the church. But as is clearly 
set forth by Swedenborg in explaining the first and 
second chapters of Genesis, there are necessarily six 
days preceding the Sabbath, through which there is 
more or less confhct, and much disorder. But we are 
not to think of the Celestial Church as composed alto- 
gether of men and women who are like sinless and 
perfect angels, in all heavenly characteristics. All are 
born natural, but with the capacity to be gradually 
regenerated, and brought into true manhood, and 
finally to become angels. But it should be understood 
that angel-hood is the result of growth, and can be 
attained in no other way. First remains, or celestial 
seeds are planted in the infantile mind, which through 
childhood and early-youth are being increased, and as 
the age and state become sufficiently advanced for 



REGENERATION BY LOVE. 121 

regeneration proper to begin, an influx of love from 
the Lord flows in by an internal way, quickening the 
stored remains into active life, and the process of 
creating the man anew begins, and as he co-operates 
with the Lord, it steadily advances, his states of disorder 
gradually pass away, his natural appetites and passions, 
which may be termed his animal nature, are curbed 
and brought under control, but not without conflict 
and persistent effort, while constantly looking to the 
Lord for complete victory over everything inconsistent 
with life among the angels in heaven. This seems 
clearly to be the order of the development of the man 
of the Most Ancient Church. And in its gradual decline, 
evils of life grew up in the church, so that men were 
regenerated with increasing difficulty, till they became 
so corrupt that vast multitudes perished, even as to 
the natural life. But this church was to the last, of 
the distinct celestial type, receiving influx directly into 
the will, till it was totally destroyed, and those out 
of whom the ancient Spiritual Church was organized 
were regenerated by the formation of a new will in 
the intellectual part. It is said in A. C. 2053 that: 
The Lord miraculously separated the intellectual part 
of man from his will part. This separation and closing 
up of the internal way of influx, prepared the way for 
the formation of the Spiritual Church, which could 
receive truth only through the external natural man. 

After the explanation just given as to what is meant 
by the Celestial Church, as described by Swedenborg, 
the reader will understand that it is not claimed that 



122 THE NEW CANAAN. 

the Israelites immediately after crossing over into 
Canaan, represented the fully developed and mature 
New Christian Church, which is to be the highest 
and the best that ever has been, or ever will be upon 
the earth. But it is claimed that the preparatory 
stages of instruction and growth, and of becoming 
familiar with the great doctrinal system of truth, on 
which the church of the future is to rest, are represented 
with marvelous accuracy, and further it is claimed 
that the development of the true celestial life of indi- 
vidual men and women, from the inmost centers of 
the individual soul, and also of the church, as the Grand 
or Composite man of earth, in their earlier stages, 
are most clearly represented, even at the camp at 
Gilgal. And it is claimed that these events, even in 
their smallest particulars, are representative, or symbolic 
prophecies, the fulfillment of which, even at the pres- 
ent time is sufficiently advanced to identify beyond 
peradventure, if critically examined by unbiased and 
competent New Churchmen. But it is enough for our 
present purpose, to show that the general trend of 
events as recorded, after crossing the Jordan; is such 
as to represent the regeneration of the Celestial man, 
and the active development of the church at large 
in making preparation for its inauguration into its 
^^ appointed station," so distinctly referred to by Swe- 
denborg in A. R. 547 and 562. 

It is scarcely necessary to say that the cluster of 
events here recorded, seeming in the letter to have 
taken place in a few days, or a few weeks after crossing 



BEOENEBATION BY LOVE. 123 

the Jordan, in their representative fulfillment, stretch 
out over years and even centuries. The encampment 
at Gilgal is the first mentioned. It was in the east 
border of Jericho. In a good sense as here used, Jericho, 
situated near the Jordan, and in the border of the 
land, signifies instruction in the truths which introduce 
those referred to, into the church, which is here repre- 
sented by the land of Canaan, which church is clearly 
the New Christian Church — that is the New Jerusalem. 
The East denotes love to the Lord and love to the 
neighbor. (A. C. 5215.) To encamp signifies to arrange 
according to heavenly order. (A. C. 4236.) The valley 
or plain of the Jordan, in which Jericho was located, 
signifies the external or natural man — that department 
of his nature which is active in the life in this world. 
In this department all evil is located, both hereditary, 
and that resulting from evil in the life. And the work 
of regeneration, in brief, is the reduction of this outer 
province of man's nature to a state of heavenly order 
and bringing it into correspondence with the internal, 
the heavens of the mind, so that the influx of life from 
the Lord may flow freely into the inmost parts, and 
then just as freely into the lower department of his 
nature, till the ultimates of his life in the world are 
so transformed as to receive and express the heavenly 
life perfectly, which is the Divine petition answered — 
''Thy will be done on earth, as in heaven. " 

In all the earlier stages of regeneration, the natural 
man resists and opposes the internal heavenly life. 
The work of regeneration is to remove this contrariety, 



124 THE NEW CANAAN. 

and to bring the external into harmony with the internal. 
It is causing the ^^ brethren to dwell together in unity, " — 
thus bringing the kingdom of heaven down to earth, 
which is indeed ''good and pleasant." The encamp- 
ment in the east border of Jericho, and the various 
incidents connected with it, signifies the progressing 
states of regeneration. It is from the low plane of 
the natural man and life, looking eastward from Jericho, 
the place of instruction, where one becomes indoc- 
trinated in the heavenly truths revealed for the New 
and Crowning Church, and where he strives by using 
these truths, to have everything in his life brought 
into heavenly order. It is the advancing state of 
regeneration, and all symbols used indicate clearly 
that it is the regeneration of the celestial man and 
church. 

It was necessary for the Israelites, before beginning 
the active conquest of the land, to bring themselves 
into the exact order prescribed by the Lord. They 
were now entering upon their Divinely appointed 
mission, as the representatives of the Lord's final, 
Celestial Church. True, before crossing the Jordan, 
while in their wilderness journey, they represented the 
first dispensation of the Christian Church, which was 
of the Spiritual type, and they represented it so per- 
fectly, that Christian people have almost universally 
understood the representation, even without having 
direct knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word. 
But after crossing the Jordan, and encamping in the 
land, their representation changed — that is they began 



REGENEBA TION BY LOVE. 125 

to represent the New Christian Church, which is to 
be of the Celestial type or genus. Hence in their 
ceremonial rites, as well as in the conquests of the 
land, they were to observe and do those things which 
would correspond to, and represent the life principles 
and activities of a true Celestial Church, governed in 
all things by love to the Lord, such love as manifests 
itself in love to the neighbor. On account of this 
representative mission which they were to fill, it was 
necessary for them at the outset to renew the rite of 
circumcision, which signifies regeneration by love, 
which is the regeneration of the celestial man. As 
evidence of this I quote from A. C. 1025, as follows: 
''Circumcision represented regeneration by love, as is 
clearly explained by Moses : ' Jehovah God will circum- 
cise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah 
thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
that thou mayest live.' " From these words it appears 
that circumcision in the internal sense, and this is the 
signification wherever it is mentioned, denotes love 
and charity and a life grounded therein. Various 
other quotations might be given. The rite of circum- 
cision was not practised after leaving Egypt till they 
were encamped at Gilgal after crossing the Jordan. 
But being about to begin life in Canaan, which life 
was to represent the New Jerusalem dispensation, they 
were required to renew the observance of this rite, 
and the Passover and the various rituals of the cere- 
monial law given by Moses for their observance after 
entering the promised land, because all these things 



126 THE NEW CANAAN. 

were Divinely arranged symbols, representing the pure 
and heavenly states of life which were to characterize 
the final church in its return to primitive conditions, 
as they existed in the days of old. Literally observing 
all these rites and ceremonies, and keeping the com- 
mandments in their relation to the outward life, was 
all the children of Israel were required to do that they 
might enjoy natural prosperity, and find help in the 
wars they were entering upon. And this conquest of 
the land, as we follow it historically, sets forth in 
clear light the corresponding preparation the New 
Christian Church is making, and the interior spiritual 
things it must cultivate and sacredly observe, in coming 
into the true life of the New Christian Church. And 
in this state, preparatory to the last and triumphant 
war against the old evil inhabitants — the falses and 
evils now seeming so strong and so securely fortified — 
the one thing indispensable to success is the circum- 
cision of the heart. Should we fail in that, we would 
be routed and turned back, as was Israel by the sin 
of Achan. Indeed we would flee when no man pursues. 
And again the New Christian Church must pass through 
a state of careful instruction. The people of the church 
must have a clear and distinct insight into the funda- 
mental doctrines given for their instruction. Nor is 
it enough for the minister or public teacher to wisely 
instruct the people, showing what is required to make 
good citizens in the Lord's kingdom upon the earth, 
but also the people must labor to secure instruction for 
themselves. They need to carefully study the Word, 



REGENEBA TION BY LOVE, 127 

in the light of the doctrines given for that very purpose. 
Not indeed that it is necessary or possible for the 
masses to make a critical study of the voluminous 
writings of the church, but all may and should gain 
such knowledge of them as to constitute a safe doc- 
trinal guide according to which the Word may be 
profitably and understandingly studied. Though the 
representative age of the world has passed, and men 
are now called to bring into the life the things repre- 
sented, yet these old representatives, given to the 
world by the Lord, through Abraham and his posterity, 
and garnered in the holy Word in its literal sense, will 
afford instruction, and inexhaustible stores of wisdom 
for the coming ages of the world. 

But the rites and ceremonies of the New Jerusalem 
age are to have relation to the inside of the cup and 
platter. That is the holy and heavenly thing or state, 
itself, before only represented, is now to flow out 
from the purified heart, and express itself in heavenly 
deeds in the life. These sacrifices and rituals of the 
incoming church may be acceptably rendered only in 
the circumcision of the heart, and the offering up 
daily of the lamb of innocence, and the dove of pure 
and heavenly thoughts and affections for the purifica- 
tion of the life. ''For Thou desirest not sacrifice, else I 
would give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. 
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and 
a contrite heart, God Thou wilt not despise. '' (Psalm 
51.) 



XI. 



THE RESTORATION OF THE WILL TO SOUND- 

XESS, IX PREPARATION FOR THE 

COMING CHURCH. 



One of the most difficult lessons, as well as one of 
the most hnportant which the people of the New 
Church have yet to learn, is that the new concUtions 
wliich confront the Chm-ch, and must be met, are 
radically chfferent from those to which the church has 
been accustomed in the past chspensation. or indeed 
to those wliich have confronted any former chspensa- 
tion. Lq the coming church, in all its departments, 
both internal and external, all things are Hterally to 
be made new. But the tendency to conservatism in 
the human mind is always great, and radical changes 
in the modes of thinking, and particularly in the external 
activities of life, are brought about with difficulty, 
and require time and patience on the part of leaders 
of thought. And these characteristics are perhaps as 
chstinctly marked among us as a people, as they ever 
have been amongst any other people in the midst of 
any new mental or social revolution wliich has -^Tought 
great changes. With us while receivTng new doctrines, 
racUcally chfferent from those of the past chspensation, 
we have failed to see that our new truth forms, must 

128 



THE COMING CHURCH. 129 

necessarily produce corresponding and equally great 
changes in all our external activities, relating to our civil, 
social and religious life in the world. 

But our extreme conservatism has all along placed 
us in the anomalous attitude of trying to conform our 
church life, our usages in public worship, and even 
the measure of our faith, and of our attainments^ 
in the regenerate hfe, to the standard maintained by 
the lingering remnants of the former dispensation. 
And in some quarters amongst us there is even an 
active tendency towards medieval ritualism, while 
there is a manifest aversion to making anything new 
except our doctrines. The thought that the opening 
of the Word, and the giving of the new doctrines for 
the New Age, is designed really to lead the church 
into the enjoyment of all the privileges of the Most 
Ancient Church, and into a state as high and heavenly 
as that enjoyed in the days of old, is entirely foreign 
to the common thought of our people. And there 
seems to be a great defect of faith in regard to the 
Lord's ability to raise up again a heavenly church 
amongst men, with an open internal way of influx 
from Him, as before the flood. The prevailing thought 
seems to correspond exactly with the majority report 
of the twelve spies whom Moses sent to spy out the 
land. They admitted that it was indeed a goodly 
land, but they had no faith in the Lord's ability to 
give it to them. On the same line now, when the 
doctrine of the celestial church is presented, than 
which none is more distinctly set forth in the Writings 
9 



130 THE NEW CANAAN. 

of the church, it is objected that since such only are 
celestial as have some soundness of will, it must be 
impossible. It is assumed that all now hving are 
without any of the requisite soundness of will, and 
that although the Lord could and did in the days of 
Noah, when all were ready to perish, miraculously 
separate the intellectual part from the will, and provide 
a way that the Spiritual man, with his destroyed will, 
might be regenerated as to the intellectual part, and 
thus saved, nevertheless it is too much to beUeve that 
the Lord in the great redemption could and did make 
provision for this very thing — the restoration of the 
ruined will, thus providing for the raising up of the 
former desolations and for building anew His Church 
from its very foundations. 

Assuming this negative position is in effect to say 
that the Lord was defeated in His purpose in creating 
men, that they might people the heavens, and that 
He is either unable or unwilling in the redemptive 
scheme, to break the shackles from the captive race, 
and to admit all back into their lost heritage, who 
are willing to leave their swine feeding, and to arise 
and return, saying, ^' Father, I have sinned against 
heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy 
to be called thy son, but make me as one of thy hired 
servants only" — that is, make me a spiritual man, for 
I am not worthy to become a celestial man. But the 
Father only embraced him, and kissed him, and put 
the ring upon his hand, and shoes upon his feet, and 
restored him fully to his lost home and heirship. Then 



THE COMING CHURCH. 131 

is the symbol of the Father's love over-drawn and 
greater than the love itself, as expressed in the Glorified 
Humanity of the Omnipotent Redeemer? 

In regard to the restoration of the will to such a 
measure of soundness that the internal way of influx 
from the Lord may be opened, we need not be in 
doubt, as the opened Word affords abundant evidence 
of this. True, the writings, as far as I know, do not 
in so many words declare that the will of those who 
are to constitute the remnant out of which the New 
Church shall be inaugurated, shall be restored by 
the providence and power of the Lord, yet the great 
truth is taught with clearness and force which I think 
will convince any one who is inmostly hungering and 
thirsting after righteousness. 

The difficulty hitherto seems to have been, that in 
our search after the truth given for the New Church, 
we have been skimming over the surface, confining 
our research to the mere external shell of the doctrines, 
having little love for the interior truth, beneath the 
surface, and consequently little ability to discover it. 
We have so occupied ourselves with mere externals 
of the church — the skin and bones — that we have failed 
to find the real meat, and the warm life blood, save 
to a very limited extent. But I fancy we are not so 
much to blame for this. It was just so with the early 
disciples of the Lord. After being with Him, and 
taught by Him, for three full years, they had no real 
conception of the church he came to build up. They 
thought it was to be an earthly kingdom on the throne 



132 THE NEW CANAAN. 



1 



of David. Of course they were blind and dull, and 
wholly occupied with the things of this world, but 
the Lord only gently chided them for their dullness 
and their unbelief. He knew that they could only 
understand external things. Hence, after giving them 
the great commission: '^Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature," He said: ''But 
tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem [the doctrines of the 
Church] until ye be endued with power from on high," 
or till all their truth vessels were filled with love. But 
the baptism with the Holy Ghost gave them power 
over evil and falsity, and opened their eyes to the 
true nature of the Lord's kingdom, for the first. And 
there is perhaps the same excuse for us, the Lord's 
disciples in His Second Advent. When He chides us 
on account of our unbelief, it is only that we may be 
prepared to receive Him. 

We are repeatedly informed by Swedenborg that the 
man of the Celestial Church has more or less soundness 
of will, and an internal way of influx from the Lord 
into his will. Indeed these are the distinctive and 
essential characteristics of the Celestial man. Let the 
will be destroyed, and the internal way of influx closed, 
and he loses the very qualities which constitute the 
Celestial man. If the Most Ancient Church which 
was celestial, and the Ancient Church which was 
spiritual, successively fell into ruin and perished, so 
that neither Celestial nor Spiritual men remained on 
the earth, but only such as were natural; if at 
this time, the Lord prophetically announced to one of 



THE COMING CHURCH. 133 

these natural men, that his posterity in future genera- 
tions, should be restored to the same state as the people 
of the Most Ancient Church before the fall, would not 
this be the full equivalent in meaning to stating plainly 
that his posterity in their final condition should be re- 
stored to soundness of will, and should have the old inter- 
nal way of influx re-opened? There can be but one an- 
swer. And this is what Hterally happened to Joseph, 
just before his father, Israel, breathed his last. The 
prophetic annunciation reads: ''And God shall be with 
you, and bring you again into the land of your fathers. " 
In the writings we read: ''That hereby is signified to 
the state of each ancient church. It is said to the state 
of each ancient church, because the sons of Israel, 
and their posterity, as well as they who were of the 
ancient churches, represented the Lord's celestial and 
spiritual kingdom." A. C. 6304. 

Now these statements and many others to the same 
effect, clearly show that in the restoration of the fallen 
race, under the great redemption wrought out by the 
Incarnate Lord, first a church or state of life corre- 
sponding to the Ancient Church should be raised up. 
This prophecy has been perfectly fulfilled in the first 
dispensation of the Christian Church. We read in 
A. C. 1083 that: "The internals of the Christian Church 
were precisely similar to those of the Ancient Church." 
The externals only were different. This was the first 
step in the return to the "land" — ^the state of the 
Ancient Church — after the flood. To complete the 
fulfillment of Israel's prophecy, after many centuries 



134 THE NEW CANAAN. 

and more generations, it was raised to the state of the 
Most Ancient Church. 

Will the reader kindly take particular notice that 
these statements in regard to the re-establishment of 
the states of the Most Ancient Church, as of old, are 
from the Word as interpreted by the Divinely illumi- 
nated Seer of the New Chiu-ch? And as one who has 
faith in the interpretation of this prophecy made by 
Israel to Joseph, cannot doubt but that it is to return 
to the Celestial state, this alone is proof that the 
Lord has ample means provided, and now in active 
operation, to bring about the restoration of soundness 
of will to the remnant, out of which the crown of the 
churches is to be inaugurated. 

But that this important teaching of the Word, as 
interpreted by the writings, may be established 
by at least two or three unimpeachable witnesses, I 
will quote once more from the writings. In A. C. 
2669, in explaining the difference between the Celestial 
and the Spiritual, it is said: ^'The Celestial are those 
of whom the Lord thus speaks: ^He calleth His own 
sheep by their name, and leadeth them forth, and 
when he hath led forth his own sheep, he goeth before 
them, and the sheep follow Him, because they know 
his voice,' but the Spiritual are those of whom He 
thus speaks, 'and other sheep I have which are not of 
this fold, them also must I bring with Me, and they 
shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock 
and one Shepherd.' " Now it would seem difficult for 
language more clearly to teach that the Celestial Church 



THE NEW CHURCH. 135 



is the full and normal type, and that the Spiritual 
Church was never designed to be a permanent Church 
but only to continue till the Gospel scheme in all its 
parts, is fully wrought out. In the final consum- 
mation He will bring the ''other sheep" not of the 
Celestial fold, with Him, and they shall become one 
flock and one Shepherd. It will be observed here that 
the Lord represents his sheep as being in two distinct 
flocks, the Celestial feeding in one pasture, and the 
Spiritual in another. Now the Lord is always present 
with the Celestial. His tabernacle is in the midst of 
them, for He constantly descends by influx into their 
inmost hfe, and His presence is never withdrawn from 
them. But the other sheep, the Spiritual, as to their 
conscious Hfe, and their real state, are in another place 
or state, seemingly more distant from the Good Shep- 
herd, and the true fold. But the Lord says of these 
other sheep: ''I must bring them with Me, and they 
shall become one flock and one Shepherd." Now the 
plain literal meaning of these words is, that He purposes 
to bring the other sheep, the Spiritual, then in a different 
fold, up to the flock with which he was immediately 
present, and to unite the two in one fold. He was 
with the Celestial, as we have just read from the writings, 
and was about to bring the Spiritual up to the same 
state, that all might be together in one flock, and 
certainly in the same general state. 

Before proceeding to show that the process of restoring 
the will has, under the auspices of the Lord, been 
making progress ever since the beginning of the Christian 



136 THE NEW CANAAN. 

era, lest the nature of this soundness, as it is termed 
in the writings, should be misunderstood, and a false 
^dew taken of it, I want to explain that man has no 
independent, real good in his selj-life, nor ever did 
have. It is really the Lord's good, which he uses as 
his own, and which seems to him, in his natural con- 
sciousness, as his ovm, but which nevertheless is wholly 
the Lord's, and is acknowledged to be wholly His. 
The real truth touching the nature of this ''soundness" 
or ''integrity" of vdYi, is stated T^dth great clearness 
in the Arcana Coelestia, in No. 633. It is said: "With 
ever}^ celestial man, and ^\ith every angel, even the 
most celestial, his jrroj/rium is nothing but what is 
false and evil; for it is a kno\\Ti thing that the heavens 
are not pure before the Lord, and that all good, and 
all truth, are of the Lord. But in proportion as a man 
and angel, is in a capacity of being perfected, so by 
the di\dne mercy of the Lord he is perfected, and as 
it were, receives the understanding of truth, and the 
wdll of good; but that he possesses them is only an 
appearance. Every one is capable of being perfected, 
and consequently of receiving this gift of the Lord's 
mercy, according to his actual life, mocUfied by the 
inherited e^dl implanted in him from his parents." 

From these statements from the Writings, soundness 
of ^ill seems to be simply an open state in which the 
man receives into his vnR, T\'ithout resistance, the good 
flowing in from the Lord, and freely co-operates with 
Him in developing and perfecting everything good and 
true. The Lord works ^dthin, by his inflowing love 



TEE COMING CHURCH. 137 

both to will and to do. Indeed He really does all the 
work, while the man freely consents, and co-operates 
as of himself, in it. But in the man with the closed 
and ruined will, the evil self-life or proprium closes 
the channel of influx through the internal man, into 
the will, and thence through the rationality, into the 
external man. 

Let us now inquire how the ruined will of the man 
of the Spiritual Church, may be so far changed as to 
have something sound, to receive the influx from the 
Lord by an internal way? Heredity undoubtedly plays 
a very important part by providing the foundation on 
which true integrity may be built up. It is clearly 
taught in the Writings, that children inherit an aptitude 
for, and a tendency to such states of good as their 
parents had developed in their own lives, and that 
this process may be continued, indefinitely, each suc- 
ceeding generation receiving a better heredity, and 
rising into a higher state as to integrity, or soundness 
of will. And while it is not claimed that there is a 
direct, thus saith the Lord, nor even a direct, thus 
saith Swedenborg, to prove that this restoration to 
soundness of will, is under the auspices of the Lord, 
being accomplished, it is asserted that the equivalent 
of such declaration may be found by any careful student, 
both in the Word, and in the Writings. Bearing directly 
on this point, I quote from A. C. 3469, as follows: '^For 
the good into which man is born, is derived to him 
from his parents, either father or mother; for whatever 
principle parents have contracted by frequent use and 



138 THE NEW CANAAN. 

habit, or have become tinctured with by actual life, 
so as to render it famihar, till it has the appearance 
of being natural, this is derived down to their children, 
and becomes hereditary. When parents have lived in 
the good of the love of good, and in so h^dng have 
perceived their proper dehght and blessedness, supposing 
them to conceive children, in such a state of hfe, the 
children thence receive an inclination to similar good. 
Where parents also have hved in the good of the love 
of truth . . . and in so hving have perceived their 
proper dehght and blessedness, supposing them to con- 
ceive children in such a state of life, the children thence 
receive an inchnation to similar good." The con- 
cluding part of this number shows that the same prin- 
ciple apphes to those in the love and practice of evil, 
in an inverse order. Their children inherit a tendency 
to the same evil life. This principle distinctly asserted 
in the Writings, with inexorable logic, brings to view 
the end which awaits the incorrigibly evil class, when 
the consummation of all good in themselves is reahzed. 
But we now turn our thoughts to the brighter side. 

From the foregoing it may be seen that both with 
the good and the evil, the stream of heredity as it 
flows down the centuries, as the rule, grows deeper 
and stronger, and mil so continue till the final con- 
summation of the Spiritual Chiu'ch upon the earth 
as it was consummated in the spiritual world, in the 
Last Judgment in 1757. It is well known that the 
heredity received from parents who were truly good 
in heart and life, has passed down several centuries. 



THE COMING CHURCH. 139 

manifesting in the later generations the same charac- 
teristics, greatly increased in strength. Swedenborg 
refers to the Israelites as a striking illustration of this 
principle. And other races and nations, were we as 
familiar with their history, would probably afford just 
as conclusive evidence. But an improved heredity 
can only be found in those nations where true and 
vital Christianity has long existed, and even there, 
only in those families where practical Christianity 
has been the common order for generations, and thus 
ingrained in the race. But that a better heredity has 
been developed, and is now being developed, under 
the influence of true personal spirituality — religion in 
the heart, and in the life — I think cannot be questioned 
by one who has given the subject serious and careful 
thought. 

Touching this point, I am constrained to make a 
statement, drawn from information deemed entirely 
reliable. Having long been interested in this line of 
inquiry, I have given considerable attention to the 
subject. And it so happens that I have been able 
to trace back the history of two or three families, which 
have rapidly increased, and become quite numerous 
through five or six generations, the ancestors as far 
back as known, having been noted for Christian integrity, 
and uprightness of character. And the members of 
those families, which are now widely distributed, have 
followed in the same exemplary course of life, showing 
from childhood marked tendencies to a true Christian 
life. And in each generation there have been individuals 



140 THE NEW CANAAN. 

whose lives and general characteristics were of the 
distinctively celestial type, as described by Swedenborg. 
And this is in Hne mth the quotation just read: ''The 
children conceived in such a state, thence receive an 
inchnation to similar good." And does not a marked 
inclination to such a Ufe carry in itself con^dncing 
e\ddence that in good heredity, and the pre-natal 
influences brought to bear by celestial angels sent 
out for that purpose, the seeds of integrity and sound- 
ness are planted in the will. If so, even though 
only a few little germs are placed in the will, they will 
open the internal way of influx from the Lord, and He 
can then take care of the work Himself. Is not 
this view in harmony with the general trend of the 
Bible, as it certainly is with the teachings of Sweden- 
borg? As it is in harmony with the Word, and 
the Writings, it certainly is with enhghtened reason. 
Indeed does not the old and hard thought, that 
the normal influx from the Lord must forever remain 
shut out from the human will, leaving the wound 
made by the fail to remain unhealed in aU the coming 
ages of the human race, dishonor God, and detract 
from the glory of the great redemption, wrought out 
by Himself, in His Humanity? If the object in 
creation and in redemption is a heaven from the 
Human Race, is it not the only reasonable supposition 
that the Lord would begin at the fountain head of 
e^dl — ^the ruined will, and by redemptive power and 
wdsdom restore it, that His own Hfe-gi^dng influx might 
reach the very center of life, and working from that 



1 



TEE COMING CHURCH. 141 

center down and out, restore the whole man to sound- 
ness, as in the time of Adam? 

But in working out His beneficent purposes among 
men, the Lord ever works according to His own laws 
of order. To short-sighted men His operations often 
seem to work slowly, and many centuries may come 
and go before men are able to read the design. Thus 
the Church of the First Advent shows compara- 
tively little visible progress towards the restoration of 
the race, viewed from an external human stand-point. 
But in the opening of Divine Truth for the New Dis- 
pensation, it is beginning to appear that in the ceaseless 
workings of the Divine plan, constant progress has 
been made in the essential and fundamental work of 
restoring the breach, and building up the wastes and 
desolations of many generations, and that soon this 
shall be made fully manifest to all who have spiritual 
discernment, as the church comes into ''its appointed 
station." 

Before concluding this chapter, I want to call attention 
to one statement in the Scriptures which teaches posi- 
tively that hereditary evil will pass entirely away from 
the church and the world. After describing the blessed 
state of the church of the latter day, the prophet 
Zechariah says: ''And in that day there shall be no 
more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. " 
(14, 21.) The Canaanite signifies hereditary evil. 
And since the Canaanite was no longer in the house 
of the Lord, it follows that the evil heredity which 
destroyed the will, and closed the internal way of 



142 THE NEW CANAAN. 



influx, had finally passed away, leaving men in their 
primitive state. At just what stage of the churches' 
development this work will be fully accomphshed, 
is not for us to definitely know beforehand. But as 
the restoration of the will to soundness, is the means 
used to prepare the Church for the change from the 
Spiritual to the Celestial, it would seem that it would 
be accomphshed, relatively speaking, when the distinct 
transition is made. That is the evil heredity will 
largely cease when the Spiritual Church — ^the Church 
with the ruined will — ceases to exist. But it may be 
necessary, again, to remark that at the end of one 
dispensation, and the beginning of another, there is 
always an intermediate period, between the two, in 
which there is a mingling of the characteristics of 
the Old and the New. This is manifestly the present 
state of the Church. The Spiritual still linger vAVn the 
New Celestial Church, now being formed. But when 
it reaches its mature state, and is prepared to perform 
all the functions of a celestial church, it will be inau- 
gurated by recei\fing the inflo^^ing hfe pecuhar to a 
mature celestial church. But it should be noted that 
the inauguration of the incoming church, Tsill begin 
in the center of true Christianity, and from these 
centers extend into other regions, as fast as the pre- 
paratory work is sufficiently advanced. Hence this 
distinct change cannot take place simultaneously over 
the Christian world, but only as different countries 
and peoples complete the preparatory stages. And yet, 
that part of the w^ork w^hich comes within the range 



THE COMING CHURCH. 143 

of human observation, will doubtless advance with 
greatly accelerated speed when the Church in its full 
state has its beginning. This will be the second 
Pentecost, which means the same thing as the marriage 
of the Lamb and the Bride, or the conjunction of the 
Lord with His. Church. And when this union is con- 
summated, the Celestial Church proper will begin. For 
the descending City became the Bride, the Lamb's 
wife. And it is clear that it is the Celestial Church, 
for its relation to the Lord is represented by the true 
wife, and this relation could never take place between 
the Lord and the Spiritual Church, for the concubine 
represents that church, and not the wife. (A. C. 3246.) 

But while the process of restoring the will to sound- 
ness, with the true Israel, has been making progress, 
by receiving an improved heredity from true Christian 
parents, generation after generation, just the opposite 
has taken place with those famihes which have lived 
in evil for generations. 

If further evidence is needed to show the prepara- 
tion of the church for passing into its primitive state 
of integrity of will, it may be found taught by repre- 
sentation, in the fact that circumcision, which had not 
been practiced while journeying through the wilderness, 
was again by Divine command practiced immediately 
after crossing the Jordan. Now all Christian people 
recognize the fact that the Israelites, on the journey 
from Egypt to Canaan, represent the Apostolic Church. 
Their wanderings over thirsty deserts, experiencing 
many hardships and privations, for forty years, most 



144 THE NEW CANAAN. 



accurately represent the states of trial, temptation, 
and warfare through which the first dispensation of 
the Christian Church has passed. Then in this fact 
we find the reason for the cessation of the rite of cir- 
cumcision while they were passing through the wilder- 
ness. Circumcision, as we have shown from the writings, 
represents regeneration by love, that is regeneration 
in the Celestial Church. But while in the wilderness, 
they represented the Spiritual man and Church, con- 
sequently had they observed this rite, it would have 
defeated the representative design of the journey. 
Spiritual regeneration was represented by the various 
washings observed by the Israehtes, and the repre- 
sentative force of all these was centered in water bap- 
tism, and handed doT^m to the First Christian Church. 
But when the Israehtes, under Joshua, crossed over 
the Jordan, they began to represent the New Church, 
which is to be of the Celestial type, and the cro^ming 
church of the ages. Hence circumcision, which was to 
represent regeneration in the Xew Celestial Church, 
was by Di^dne command renewed. And all the males 
born in the wilderness while the Spiritual Church was 
being represented, were circumcised at the first stopping 
place. And these children, born in the wilderness, and 
constituting the remnant preserved from those who 
had represented the Spiritual Church, now took upon 
themselves the sign pecuhar to the Celestial Church, 
which they were to represent, after entering Canaan. 
And in like manner, the children raised up in the First 
Christian Church, who received from their Christian 



THE COMING CHURCH. 145 

parents an improved and constantly improving heredity, 
thus securing some integrity of will, after crossing the 
line separating the Christian Church from the incoming 
Celestial Church, on receiving the new influx peculiar 
to the New Celestial Church, pass gradually into the 
very states of life represented by the circumcision of 
those who were born in the wilderness, and circumcised 
in the camp at Gilgal. 

We are thus clearly taught that under the auspices 
of the Lord, by an improved heredity, accompanied, 
perhaps, by pre-natal influences brought to bear by 
Celestial angels, they are prepared to enter upon a 
new and higher state of life than was possible to their 
ancestors. It seems beyond question that the renewal 
of the rite of circumcision at this particular time, 
represents the Divine plan for the transition from 
the Spiritual to the New Celestial Church. The repre- 
sentatives used clearly express this change, and as 
we are taught in the Writings, that everything in 
connection with this representative people has a par- 
ticular meaning, we may not Hghtly lay aside so impor- 
tant a transaction, and so carefully stated, as the 
circumcision of the males at the camp at Gilgal. 



10 



XII. 
THE CELEBRATION OF THE PASSOVER AT GILGAL. 



The feast of the Passover, as we are informed in 
the Arcana Coelestia, particularly in opening the twelfth 
chapter of Exodus, signifies the celebration of the Lord 
on account of the liberation of the people of the Spiritual 
Church, from damnation, which liberation is effected 
by regeneration. 

By the Spiritual Church, as related to the Passover, 
both the church formed in the days of Noah and the 
Apostolic Church are meant, and the Jewish Church 
was of the same type, that is the will was totally de- 
stroyed, but it never became spiritual, remaining on 
the natural plane through all its history. Swedenborg 
says of these churches: ''The internals of the Christian 
Church were precisely similar to those of the Ancient 
Church, but other externals. . . The Ancient Church 
did not then differ in the least from the Christian 
Church internally, but only externally." (A. C. 1083.) 
These were both closed churches, that is, they had 
no influx from the Lord by an internal way into 
the will. The one was the Spiritual Church dechning 
into the natural, as among the Jews, while the other 
was the Spiritual Church as raised from the natural, 
that is from the Jews, and others on the same natural 

146 



THE CELEBRATION. 147 

plane of life. It was to redeem and save the people 
of these two churches, so designated, but in reality 
constituting one church as to life and quality, that 
the Lord came into the world. And the deliverance 
of the Spiritual man, as represented in these two 
churches, from damnation, is most particularly and 
accurately represented by the Passover. But to 
different departments or divisions of the Spiritual 
Church, the Passover had different meanings, as viewed 
from their different stand-points. To the Israelites, 
at the time of its institution, it simply meant their 
deliverance from the natural bondage into which they 
had fallen in Egypt. They saw this and nothing more, 
for they had no knowledge of the great representative 
mission they were called to fill. Representations re- 
ferring to the past and to the future, were alike un- 
known to them. And as they were incapable of spiritual 
thought, by no method could they have been led to 
see the real meaning. This fact in itself, is conclusive 
evidence that the Passover when instituted, and when 
celebrated at Gilgal, was designed for other people 
and other ages — people who could be taught to read 
its mystic meaning, and to reap the benefits therefrom. 
And it is clear that no people in the world were able 
to read its meaning till the internal sense of the Word 
was opened by Swedenborg. We have evidence here 
that may not be questioned that the wonderful lessons 
of wisdom contained in this Divinely constructed sym- 
bol, are for the people of the incoming dispensation, 
as none else have been able to interpret its meaning. 



148 THE NEW CANAAN. 

Its prophetic enunciations have relation to the present 
and the near future, and are specially for those of 
the New Church. The internal evidence of this is too 
full to admit of doubt. 

But the Passover, as it relates to those from the 
Ancient Church who were detained in the lower earth, 
till after the Lord's resurrection, represented their 
deliverance from their cruel persecutions and infesta- 
tions of the hells, and their triumphant exaltation of 
the New heaven which the Lord had provided for 
them. Then again as it relates to the first dispensa- 
tion of the Christian Church, the Passover represented 
not only those who by regeneration came into that 
church, but it further represented the final redemption, 
and deliverance of those of the closed internals, as 
a body representing a large part of our race, from the 
evil inheritance and environments which have held 
them in cruel bondage to sin and Satan, and which 
have kept the internal way of influx closed, so that 
it has been impossible for them to come into the state 
of a full and perfect church. It represents not only 
this final deliverance, but also in great fullness the 
transition from the First Christian Church to the 
incoming New Church. 

And in each case the Passover not only represents 
deliverance from the evils which were oppressing the 
people, but it also represented the elevation to a new 
and higher degree of life. To those imprisoned in the 
lower earth it represented their liberation, and their 
elevation to heaven. To the Israelites it meant de- 



THE CELEBRATION. 149 

liverance from Egyptian bondage, and the ability to 
set out on the journey to the promised land in freedom. 
And in its final representation it means the liberation 
of the Christian Church on earth, from all the oppres- 
sion and deprivations and persecutions and martyrdoms 
which have followed its stormy course down the cen- 
turies. It means all this and more. It means the 
preparation by the Lord, of a remnant which can be 
raised up into a New Celestial Church which shall 
crown the ages and last forever. In a word, it means 
the full restoration of the church to its unfallen and 
normal state, as in the Golden Age of the past, and 
the passing away, not all at once, but surely of the 
curse, and the final establishment of the Lord's kingdom 
upon the earth. 

The celebration of the Passover at Gilgal, has par- 
ticular reference to this final consummation. It came 
just at the time when the Israelites, whose special 
mission was to represent the churches, had completed 
the representation of the First Christian Church, and 
were just beginning to represent the Church of the 
Second Advent. Coming at the time it did, and under 
circumstances which unmistakably represent the End 
and the Beginning — the passing away of the Spiritual 
Church, and the beginning of the Celestial Church, 
there can be no mistake in the signification. 

As related to the Israelites, it came between their 
wilderness journey from Egypt, and their actual occu- 
pancy of the land as their own possession. In the 
journey to Canaan, all recognize the representation 



150 THE NEW CANAAN. 

of the Christian Church. And in their taking the 
land, and dweUing in it, they represent the new and 
final state of the church, which is the Lord's kingdom 
established upon the earth. 

But this brief, general statement of the signification 
of the Passover is insufficient to give an adequate idea 
of the fullness of meaning which it contains, when all 
its little particulars are examined. Let us then inquire 
more definitely for its representation, when the various 
particulars involved are more fully considered. While 
we carefully examine the symbol as a whole, let us 
note the distinct parts which enter into it, that we 
may more accurately read its meaning, for it certainly 
represents the grandest and the most stupendous 
event, or rather series of events, which the universe 
of God has ever witnessed. Thus examined, I think 
no competent student of the internal sense of the 
Word, will fail to see that in this celebration of the 
Passover, at this particular juncture, in the mis- 
sion of the Lord's chosen representative people, 
a great crisis in human affairs is brought to view, 
which should make every heart which is loyal to the 
Lord and His church leap with joy, and with re- 
newed hope and courage labor for the final consum- 
mation. Thus examined, I think we will see that this 
celebration of the Passover, on the Canaan side of 
the Jordan, just after the waters which flooded all the 
lowland, representing the falsities and evils which have 
long inundated the world of mankind, were by the 
Omnipotent Lord turned back upon themselves, no 



THE CELEBRATION. 151 



more to deluge the world, has a marvelous reach of 
meaning, opening to the world the final consummation 
of the reign of sin and sorrow, and the glorious intro- 
duction of the New Dispensation which shall have no 
end. 

The preparation for the Passover, and everything 
in connection with it, as most clearly explained in 
the Arcana Ccelestia, in opening the internal sense of 
the twelfth chapter of Exodus, distinctly indicates the 
nature of the event represented. After describing the 
requirements in regard to the Paschal Lamb, and ex- 
plaining the meaning, it is said: "This is the state of 
the initiation of the interiors, that is of preparation 
to receive the influx of good and truth from the Lord. " 
(A. C. 7831.) 

From the tenth day of the month till the fourteenth, 
when the Passover was kept, the Paschal Lamb was 
to be secluded, signifying the implantation of remains, 
and the beginning of the true interior spiritual life. 
In other words, it is when the remains which the 
Lord has stored in the mind are quickened into actual 
life by the Holy Spirit. Swedenborg in explaining the 
phrase, "In the tenth of this month," says: "That 
hereby is signified the state of the initiation of the 
interiors, appears from the signification of the tenth 
day, as denoting the state of the interiors, for by day 
is signified state, and by ten are signified remains, 
that is, truths and goods stored up by the Lord in 
man's interiors; and whereas remains are in the inte- 
riors, and man by them is prepared and initiated to 



152 THE NEW CANAAN. 

receive good and truth from the Lord; therefore by 
the tenth day is here signified a state of initiation of 
the interiors: that man by remains is regenerated, 
consequently is initiated to receive the influx of good 
and truth from the Lord. . . . This state of the 
initiation of the interiors^ was from the tenth of that 
month, even to the fourteenth day thereof, mthin 
which days the paschal cattle were to be in keeping; 
by the paschal cattle is signified the good of innocence, 
which is the inmost good, thus that this inmost, with 
the interiors in which it is, in the meantime should 
be secluded and withheld from such things as defile; 
that is preparation to receive the influx of good and 
truth from the Lord. " (A. C. 7831.) 

The above seems to teach clearly that in the process 
of regeneration as here represented, by remains stored 
up in the interiors by the Lord, man is prepared and 
initiated to receive good and truth, and thus the work 
advances towards states of true innocence. Now '^ inno- 
cence is the primary principle in the Lord's kingdom." 
(A. C. 3994.) There are three degrees of innocence. 
'^A lamb denotes innocence of the inmost degree, a 
kid innocence of the second degree, and a calf innocence 
of the third, or ultimate degree." (A. E. 314.) Then 
the Paschal Lamb which was to be secluded and with- 
held from such things as defile, represents a state of 
''innocence of the inmost degree," which is the state 
of preparation to receive the influx of good and truth, 
on the fourteenth day, that is in the final celebration 
when the state is full. And ''a state is called full 



THE CELEBRATION. 153 



when the good is such that there is not anything 
wanting for receiving the influx of innocence/' As we 
have seen, the Paschal Lamb signifies innocence of the 
inmost degree, and in the regeneration and formation 
of the New Celestial Church, this state must be made 
full before it can be inaugurated in its appointed sta- 
tion, and receive the full influx of heavenly love and 
innocence. But representatively, on the fourteenth day 
of the month, the state was full, and the copious influx 
was received from the Lord. Then grasping the repre- 
sentative meaning of all these things, the inquiry arises, 
can anything else be here represented than the in- 
auguration of the New Christian Church, which is to 
be celestial, and to continue forever? Now the Passover 
in connection with each of the particular events repre- 
sented, indicates an orderly process, with a specific 
beginning, or a definitely marked starting point, fol- 
lowed by advancing states of progress, in the prescribed 
order, till complete. 

Delivering the children of Israel from Egyptian 
bondage, though in itself only a natural event, repre- 
sented most accurately the process by which one 
passes from a purely natural state, into one of initiation, 
in some measure, into true spirituality. He is thus 
delivered from abject bondage to the evils peculiar to 
the natural man, and on the East shore of the Red 
Sea, is set in the way which leads to the promised 
Canaan of celestial life. But the whole journey through 
the wilderness, with all its rough and bitter experiences, 
lies before him, and must be completed before it is 



154 THE NEW CANAAN. 

possible for him to enter the promised land, where 
perpetual peace and plenty abound. 

But enough has been said to indicate the line on 
which the process of regeneration must advance, both 
in the individual man, and in the church at large, 
for the process is the same in both cases. As the Lord 
came to redeem and save the man of the Spiritual 
church, whose will of good was totally destroyed, and 
in whom the internal way of influx was closed, so also 
he came to redeem and save the Spiritual Church as 
a composite body, from the consequences of the de- 
stroyed will, and to open the original way of influx 
by an internal way. It is to be delivered from all 
the evils incurred by the fall, and to be exalted to 
all the privileges and blessings of the unfallen church. 
For the Spiritual Church is not to remain a fractional 
church to all eternity, turning out fractional men and 
women, to people the heavens, instead of those who 
are built into the likeness of the Lord. The Word 
itself, and the writings of the church, and as certainly 
the dictates of the rational mind, when set free from 
the shackles which men have imposed upon it, all 
unite as one voice, in proclaiming the full redemption 
of our race, and its restoration to the Adamic state 
of integrity, with the enlarged vision of truth, and 
increased strength of character, resulting from the hard 
lessons of the past. 

And it is of this final deliverance of the Spiritual 
Church, as represented by the preserved remnant 
from the Christian Church, now passing away, that 



THE CELEBRATION. 155 



the Passover as celebrated at Gilgal, most eloquently 
speaks to all who are able to understand the language. 
It may be useful to give expression to one further 
thought in this connection relative to the celebration 
of the Passover. The Israelites, after crossing the 
Jordan, encamped in Gilgal in the East border of 
Jericho, as we are informed in the fourth chapter of 
Joshua. The East signifies a state of good, the very 
same state of good which was represented by all the 
people preparing victuals, in obedience to the command 
of Joshua, just before they crossed the Jordan. We 
are taught in many places in the Writings, that a state 
of good, that is loving and doing good, is the only 
foundation for receiving the truth. The Lord says : '^ If 
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, 
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.'' 
(John 7, 17.) And this state of good, signified by the 
camp being established in the East border of Jericho, 
is the essential preparation for those who are to be 
of the Lord's New Church, in order that they may 
receive the doctrines of the church, when they learn 
what they are. And in accordance with this well- 
established principle that a state of good is necessary 
as a preparation for receiving truth, in the fifth chapter 
of Joshua, it is said, '^And the children of Israel en- 
camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the four- 
teenth day of the month at even, in the plains of 
Jericho." In the first text quoted, we learn that by 
a state of good they were prepared to receive instruc- 
tion, and in this last quoted text, we learn that they 



156 THE NEW CANAAN. 

were led into a state of doctrinal instruction. In this 
case the camp is described as being in the plains of 
Jericho. In a good sense, as here used, Jericho signifies 
an early state, or the beginning of a first or new state. 
More specifically, it signifies a state of instruction 
peculiar to the beginning of a church, and which is to 
prepare the way for its mature and fully developed 
state. The camp was in the plains of Jericho. Plains 
signify good and truth in the natural man or mind. 
And we read in the writings that plains signify: ''the 
all of doctrine " ; that is a comprehensive knowledge of 
the doctrines of the church held in the imderstanding. 
And encamping signifies arranging the whole people 
in heavenly order, each tribe and family in its own 
proper place. Or in relation to the regeneration of 
an individual man, it means the control and subordina- 
tion of all the principles of good and truth which have 
been received, in an orderly manner in his mind, that 
they may be ready for use when needed. 

Then from this hasty glance at the representative 
meaning of all these particulars, when considered 
together, we have a most remarkable symbolic and 
prophetic description of the times in which we now 
live. We have the real state of the New Church as 
it now is, and of that upon which it is about to enter, 
so clearly described that nothing is lacking to make 
it fuller and more perfect than any li^dng man has 
ever been able to picture. Its external dehneation is 
clear and full, and its internal construction, to one 



THE CELEBRATION. 157 

who is able to read its mystic meaning, carries clear 
demonstration of its Divine origin. 

But to avoid a misconception which has caused 
much confusion of thought in the New Church, it may 
be definitely stated that if these beautiful symbols of 
the Word, which as read in the connected series of 
the internal and representative sense, can have but 
one meaning, the New Church as yet is simply in its 
state of initiation and preparation for receiving the 
New influx from the Lord, which when the preparatory 
work is completed, will fill the waiting disciples with 
the joyful life of the mature New Church. That part 
of the church which has passed beyond the natural, 
in the regenerate life, is still on the spiritual plane, 
with much labor gathering the manna of spiritual 
good — the good of truth. But we are distinctly told 
that after the celebration of the Passover, the manna 
ceased to fall, and they began to eat the fruit of the 
land. 

Now it seems that the majority of those who have 
accepted the doctrines of the New Church are living 
under the impression that the mere intellectual ac- 
knowledgment of the doctrine introduces one into the 
Heavenly City. Hence the prevalent thought is that 
the church will continue on the same plane of life 
with more or less improvement in those things which 
constitute a true church, and a very slow growth in 
numbers, as the years and generations of men come 
and go, but that we have the real New Church now 
about as we are to have it in the future. These 



158 THE NEW CANAAN. 

utterly inadequate views of the glorious church of the 
Second Advent, hold the eyes, and paralyze the faith 
of the people, just as the eyes of the Lord's disciples, 
nineteen hundred years ago, were closed by superficial 
and materialistic conceptions of His kingdom, supposing 
that it was to be on the throne in the Old Jerusalem. 
But taking into consideration the natural state of the 
people, there is nothing surprising, or that need dis- 
courage us in all this. Indeed it is just what was to 
be expected under the circumstances. The disciples of 
the Lord, when the promised Spirit of Truth came, 
and they discovered how mistaken they had been, 
joyfully received the heavenly influx, and with burning 
zeal went to work to build up the Lord's church and 
kingdom. And thus it will be again. Every true 
disciple of the Lord in His Second Advent, who has 
been paralyzed by these inadequate and false views, 
will have a joyful surprise, and will marvel that he did 
not see it all before. 

The Passover is a divinely constructed symbol most 
accurately representing the states of the church now 
coming in, including all human institutions, not, how- 
ever as organized from without by external forces, as 
in the past, which have no vital connection with the 
body, but rather as formed by internal heavenly force 
which push out to the surface, in effort to express 
their own real qualities in the active uses in the outward 
life. As the life principle in a grain of corn, planted 
in good ground, sends up a stalk in harmony with 
its own nature, and then develops the ear, and matures 



THE CELEBRATION. 159 



the grain till ready for the garner; so the church uni- 
versal when it is restored to its normal state, and 
receives its own proper influx from the Lord, by the 
original internal way, will from within, send out that 
heavenly life, through orderly channels, into ultimate 
forms, or fruits, corresponding to its inherent qualities, 
and thus fulfill the design in creation and redemption. 

But the thought as yet, in the early dawn of the 
New Age, is of the same external forms, the same 
rituals, or perhaps as made more elaborate and pleasing 
to the natural senses of men, and of the same general 
conditions throughout all departments of human 
society. There will still be the great extremes, 
of more than kingly wealth and luxury, and power 
over the multitudes, on the one hand, while, on 
the other hand, the poverty and squalor and wretch- 
edness, now so painfully manifest everywhere, especially 
in our great cities, where the larger half of the population 
have a painful struggle for existence, from one end 
of the year to the other, all of which comes naturally 
and inevitably from our unequal business methods, 
which amount to a warfare of the strong and unscrupu- 
lous against the weak, relentless as death, even where 
there is no dishonest intent, perforce of the evil system, 
which does violence to every principle of neighborly 
love, and of justice between man and man, thus vir- 
tually rejecting every true and heavenly principle from 
our common life. 

But this thought, with all the inequalities resulting 
from it, is wholly wrong, and when the new state of 



160 THE NEW CANAAN. 

the church, so fully represented by the Passover has 
come in, the entire current of affairs will be revolu- 
tionized. The internal Hfe of love floA\dng down from 
the Lord, T\dth more than Pentecostal power, will find 
its way out into the external hfe by many channels, 
now choked with rubbish and out of use, and soon 
the Lord's kingdom of righteousness shall be established 
from the rivers to the ends of the earth. 



XIII. 

AFTER CELEBRATING THE PASSOVER, THE 

ISRAELITES BEGIN TO EAT THE FRUIT 

OF THE LAND. 



If it is true, as has been stated in former chapters, 
that Abraham and his posterity have represented every 
church which has existed, or ever will exist upon the 
earth, even to the smallest particulars, it must be 
evident that the continuous stream of representative 
histor}^, or prophecy, will clearly mark the rise and 
fall of the churches, just as they have occurred or 
will occur. In that case, when the measure of one 
dispensation has been made full, and it comes to its 
end, the representatives will clearly mark the consum- 
mation, and just as clearly mark the rise of its successor. 
That is, in the transition from the Spiritual Church 
to the Celestial Church by which it is followed, as 
in the present case, the symbols used indicate that 
change so distinctly that it cannot be mistaken. In 
the journey through the wilderness, under the leader- 
ship of Moses, the representation beyond question is 
of the First Christian Church, which was Spiritual, 
as to internals, ''precisely similar to the Ancient 
Church." Then after the death of Moses, under 
Joshua, till the Passover was celebrated, the period 
11 161 



162 THE NEW CANAAN. 

in which the change from the Spiritual to the Celestial 
is brought to view, we find a mixed state in which 
the symbols sometimes refer to the Spiritual Church, 
while in other places they as distinctly indicate the 
Celestial Church, because both the Spiritual and the 
Celestial are present in the transitional state of the 
church represented, the Spiritual gradually passing 
out, and the Celestial as gradually coming in. And 
to secure the instructive lessons, representatively 
taught, we need to keep the distinctive representation 
of these two classes of symbols in mind. In the present 
case we need to note the gradual disappearance of 
those peculiar to the Spiritual Church, as those belonging 
to the Celestial Church come in. 

And mth the celebration of the Passover, the final 
end of the Spiritual Church is definitely brought to 
view, and the beginning in its true state of life, of the 
New Celestial Church. 

After this celebration of the Passover, we leave 
behind the representation of the Spiritual Church in 
a connected way. And in following the thread of 
the internal sense, we find a marvelously beautiful 
description of that church which is to be the crown 
of all the churches, as it comes into its state of power, 
overthrowing all the old cities of the land, that is, 
destroying the false doctrines and evils, which have 
long poisoned the spiritual atmosphere, and devastated 
the church. These must first be removed, then the 
church can grow and prosper. Then this being done, 
the representation of the Israehtes, after celebrating 



THE FRUIT OF THE LAND. 163 

the Passover, is of the New Christian Church, as it 
enters fairly upon its appointed mission, and begins 
to bear the fruits of the Celestial Church. That 
the representation might be perfect, it was necessary 
in observing their ceremonial rites, as well as in the 
conquest of the land, they should carefully do those 
things which would represent the life and activities of 
a true Celestial Church, which is governed by supreme 
love to the Lord, and which always manifests itself in 
love to the neighbor in all the relations of life. Indeed 
love to the Lord can manifest itself in no other way, 
than in practical love and good will to the neighbor. 
The Lord says: '^Verily I say unto you, inasmuch 
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my 
brethren, ye have done it unto Me." It was because 
they were to represent a true Celestial Church, that 
they were required at the outset to renew the rite 
of circumcision, signifying regeneration by love, which 
is the regeneration of the Celestial man. 

This preparation for the conquest of the land, as 
we follow it historically, sets forth in clear light, the 
corresponding preparation which the New Christian 
Church must make, that it may take its true place 
in the world. It has already crossed the dividing line 
between the first and second dispensations of the 
Christian Church, as represented by Israel's crossing 
the Jordan. And it is now passing through the state 
of preparation for the conquest of the kingdoms of 
the world, preparatory to the establishment of the 
Lord's kingdom in every land, and the universal reign 



164 THE NEW CANAAN. 

of peace. And the one thing indispensable in this 
work, is the circumcision of the heart. Without this 
we will be routed all along the line. 

Let us now notice some of the fruits, peculiar to 
a celestial church, which by representation are brought 
to view in this' connection. In the fifth chapter of 
Joshua, just after the statements in regard to keeping 
the Passover, it is said: ''And they did eat of the old 
corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, 
unleavened cakes, and parched corn, in the self -same 
day." These represent the states of good, which the 
incoming New Church will produce, and by means of 
which the life of its people will be built up, and developed 
in all things good and true. Let us notice particularly 
the signification of the old corn of the land, the un- 
leavened cakes, and the parched corn. 

Corn in the symbolisms of the Bible, when no quali- 
fying word is used, means any kind of grain. And it 
may represent any form of good, according to the 
subject under consideration. But when a particular 
kind of corn is mentioned, as wheat or barley, or corn 
of the land of Canaan, or parched corn, a specific kind 
of good is invariably represented. And this clearly 
indicates the characteristics of the church which is 
being considered. Then the old corn of the Land, 
that is of Canaan, evidently signifies celestial good — 
the good which was common in the Most Ancient 
Church, which had its home in Canaan. And when the 
qualifying word old is used in the prophetic writings, 
as the rule celestial things are meant. Thus '' old waste 



THE FRUIT OF THE LAND. 165 

places/' 'Hhe days of old/' and kindred terms which 
frequently occur in the prophets, signify the celestial 
things of the golden age. Then the term old as- quali- 
fying corn, the corn of the land of Canaan, clearly 
brings before the mind celestial good, as it existed 
in the infantile race, in its state of simple, unadulterated 
innocence and heavenly love. And the old corn of 
the land which the children of Israel did eat, signifies 
that the New Church, which is here represented, shall 
come into similar states of good, and shall partake 
of the same beautiful innocence, and heavenly qualities, 
which characterized those of the olden time, when God 
walked in the garden, and talked with his little children. 
Oh, those olden times, before the shadows of sin and 
death fell across the path of human life ! How pathetic, 
how sweet, and yet how sad the emotions which are 
stirred into life, as the returning image of a beautiful 
dream of the night, half forgotten, but lovely still! 
Let us believe that such images of the golden past 
come back to the sorrowing heart, as bright prophecies 
of the return of our race to its normal state. For surely 
every death has its resurrection, every decaying age 
has its renaissance, and we shall yet see our race, even 
here upon the earth, made into the very image of the 
heavens, with the last blot of sin wiped away. 

But if the old corn of the land signifies these beautiful 
celestial states, called up from the slumbering ages of 
the past, when bitter strife, and wearing toil were 
unknown, is it not a sure and blessed prophecy of 



166 THE NEW CANAAN. 

another golden age for our world, which, ''after the 
morrow, " shall come to crown the ages. 

After the Passover, the children of Israel ate of the 
old corn of the land, unleavened cakes and parched 
corn, representing the various states of good which 
shall be developed in the coming Celestial Church, and 
which shall last forever, for the morrow signifies forever. 
The unleavened cakes signify very much the same as 
the old corn of the land, in a general way, though 
the signification seems higher. The term unleavened, 
as a descriptive word, expresses purity, that is absolute 
freedom from contamination. And ''cake" as here 
used means the good of celestial love. The two words 
coming together, then signify not only the absence of 
evil and falsity, but celestial love which has been 
entirely separated from any admixture of such natural 
loves, as while not in themselves positively evil, have 
nevertheless, something crass or earthly adhering to 
them. 

The Israelites were not permitted to use leaven in 
any form in the feast of the Passover, because of its 
evil signification. To have used it would have been 
to bring together the symbols of good and evil, and 
would have signified profanation. The unleavened 
bread which was used represented uncontaminated celes- 
tial good, such as characterized the people of the Most 
Ancient Church, after they had reached the Sabbath 
state in the process of regeneration. It is remarkable 
that in this verse everything mentioned has some 
distinct celestial representation. The unleavened bread 



THE FRUIT OF THE LAND. 167 

used, is termed cakes, signifying the good of celestial 
love. And in addition to unleavened cakes, they ate 
'^ parched corn." This again signifies celestial good, 
but it is somewhat different from the other. Parched 
corn is specially prepared for food, by being taken 
through a process with fire. The fire separates from 
it the crudeness peculiar to uncooked food, and brings 
it into the best state for easy digestion and assimilation. 
Fire is a tremendously active force, and nature's most 
effective purifier. It penetrates every part of the body 
exposed to its action, leaving nothing untouched. And 
in the realm of spirit, love is the correspondent of fire 
in the natural world. Love, or heavenly fire, purifies 
man as a spiritual being, when he submits himself to 
its influence, as natural fire purifies material substances, 
that is love penetrates and purifies his affections and 
motives, and all the inner activities of his being, causing 
them to harmonize with his highest ideal of what is 
good and right. The constant influx of love from the 
Lord, by an open internal way, into the celestial man, 
purifies and vivifies his life, enabling him to throw 
off every impure thing. In other words, love on the 
spiritual plane, acts upon and affects spiritual substances, 
much as natural fire affects material substances. Then 
by parched corn, we may conclude that celestial good 
of the highest order is represented. It is the product 
of heavenly love in an intense state of action. It is 
the product of love of a higher order even than was 
known in the days of old, as it is the result of a higher 
development of intelligence and wisdom, as drawn from 



168 THE NEW CANAAN. 

the experience of the ages, than could be reahzed in 
the infancy of the race. And celestial love, as united 
with the dearly bought wisdom and experience of the 
ages, as it goes forth to bless the world, to hft up the 
lowly and down-trodden, to break every band, and to 
throw^ open the prison doors, and let the oppressed 
go free, will be clothed with a practical power, and 
efficienc}', which could not be approached in the morning 
of creation. Indeed the work of bringing the human 
race, as a whole, up to the Di\dne ideal, as \dewed from 
a true stand-point, has steadih' advanced, and will 
continue to advance till fully realized. It is inspired 
by such love acti^dty and intensit}^, as to take no note 
of self, and as to seek nothing for self, but all for the 
neighbor and the brother. And ^AXh such fire of love 
kindled, how quickly the crooked places mil be made 
straight, and the rough places made smooth throughout 
the Christian world! It will consume the monster 
self-love, it will remove unjust distinctions, and equahze 
all the necessary burdens of Hfe. And, kind reader, 
this fire is about to be kindled, and in the language 
of the Lord, ^^what ^dll I if it be already kindled?" 

Now the old corn, the unleavened cakes, and the 
parched corn, and indeed all the fruits of the land, 
which the IsraeHtes ate, after the Passover, when the 
manna ceased to fall, as described in the Word, clearly 
represented the fruits of a celestial church, and that 
church means the coming New Church, as must appear 
certain to any one who accepts the representative sig- 
nification as given in the Writings. These fruits men- 



THE FRUIT OF THE LAND. 169 

tioned were literally grown in the land of Canaan, 
and that land always signifies the Celestial Church, 
when used to represent the church upon the earth. 
True, Canaan is sometimes used to signify heaven, 
but even in that case the representation is essentially 
the same, as the Celestial Church upon the earth is 
simply the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, extending 
its peaceful sway down to the earth, and ultimating 
itself on the natural plane, among men still in the 
flesh. The only difference between the two, is that 
the heaven of angels is in the inmost or highest degree 
of life; the material part, and the external natural 
mind having been put off at death, that is their common 
everyday life, in the celestial heavens, is in the inmost 
degree of love. And when the influx of life from the 
Lord descends into the angels of that heaven, at 
the same time and in the same manner it flows into 
the highest degree of those men and women who, by 
regeneration, have passed into the Sabbath state, and 
thus have become truly celestial, as to their inmost life. 
They receive the same influx as the celestial angels, 
because they, as to their inmost life, are in the same 
degree and state with them. But as they are still 
in the body, and performing their active uses among 
men in the natural world, instead of ultimating their 
heavenly life among the brotherhood of angels, in 
uses suitable to those angels and that heaven, the 
influx of love passes down through the understanding, 
and out into the natural life, till it pleases the Lord 
to set them free from the tabernacle of clay. Then, 



170 THE NEW CANAAN. 

still receiving the same heavenly influx from the Lord 
into their inmost life, it will, in accordance with the 
laws of heavenly order, pass out into the common 
uses of their society, through their particular use 
as individual members of that society. As long as 
they remain in the body, their proper work will be in 
the natural world, subject to the same laws of use 
as other men, that is performing the use for which 
they are best fitted in view of their talent and environ- 
ment. While it is true that their conscious life is 
not in the celestial heavens, nor in the inmost degree, 
it is nevertheless true that their Sabbath state is free 
from the temptations and the bitterness which in an 
earlier state beset their way, and they have peace 
and rest, and joyfully await their translation to the 
heavens, when the Lord says, '^It is enough, come up 
higher." 

Thus it appears that those who by regeneration have 
entered into this Sabbath state, are moved by the 
very same heavenly love which inspires the angels, 
and shapes their conduct in the heavens, but with 
the men of the church, it expresses itself in the activities 
of the life in the world. That is, in everything they 
will and do, they are inspired by love to the Lord, 
and by pure disinterested love to their neighbors. 
Their fife is sacredly consecrated to the uses of the 
Lord's kingdom among men on the earth. And the 
only way men can express their love to the Lord is 
by doing good to the Lord's childi^en, the neighbor, 
the brother, the sister, as circumstance may require. 



THE FRUIT OF THE LAND. 171 

and opportunity is afforded; and in a more general 
sense, doing good to the public, including one's church 
and country, as these are his neighbors which should 
receive his love, expressed by constant watchfulness, 
and self-sacrificing service, when required. 

But the unregenerate natural man, who is not in 
some measure imbued with true Christian principle, 
that is, one who has no conscience, loves himself, thinks 
of himself, works for himself, without regard to the 
interests of others, and alas for the brother who falls 
into his hands, or becomes subject to his power. But 
to avoid being misunderstood, it may be well to state 
that there are two distinct classes of so-called natural 
men, which seem very much alike to those about them, 
while as to real qualities of character they are utterly 
unlike. Those of one class, as just described, are desti- 
tute of conscience, and have no true religious principles, 
being actuated only by selfish motives. The other class 
of natural men make httle pretensions to piety or 
religion, but in the general conduct of life, as viewed 
from the human stand-point, when placed under cir- 
cumstances which thoroughly test their principles, and 
motives of conduct, are found to be upright, and con- 
scientious. This latter class has the foundation upon 
which the true regenerate life may be built up, at 
least to such an extent as will prepare one for the 
ultimate heaven, while the former class, which doubtless 
includes multitudes of nominal Christians, will steadily 
grow more hardened in an utterly selfish and evil 
life. The one who is in the way to become regenerated, 



172 THE NEW CANAAN. 

says of his neighbor, '^I must be just to him. I must 
take no advantage of him. In my business relations, 
I must try to observe the golden rule, doing by him 
as I would be done by. ' ' And if his neighbor is poor, 
and finds it difficult to keep housed and clothed, he 
not only expresses sorrow and sympathy, but if he 
can find a way to render some kindly assistance, he 
is glad to do it. .But his conscience not having become 
very active, he is not supposed to trouble himself very 
much about the ill lot of his neighbor. He probably 
fails to bring home to himself the fact that the conditions 
which our civil and social structure imposes upon him 
are such that he, and the majority of our people, can 
only live by a hard struggle, without being able to 
lay up anything for '^a rainy day, " however industrious 
and frugal they may be. Consequently he does not 
feel that it is his duty to carefully inquire into the 
false conditions which everywhere prevail, and makes 
no intelligent and persistent effort to remove them. 
But the celestial man when he comes, and thank 
the Lord he is coming, will not be satisfied to leave 
great wrongs, without an earnest effort to remove 
them. He will think of all his Father's children, and 
say to himself, ^^What can I do for all those who seem 
to have a hard lot, and an unequal struggle with adver- 
sity? "WTiat can I do to help to give the masses a 
better chance? Are there great fundamental wrongs 
which I have never troubled myself to look into, 
that I might help to remove, and the restrictions 
and inequalities of opportunity, which now afflict 



THE FBUIT OF THE LAND. 173 

society, causing great suffering, and placing cruel 
burdens upon the weak? Am I permitting an extreme 
conservatism to blind my eyes so that I fail to take 
in the real situation which now confronts the church 
and society? No, the Lord being my helper, I will 
earnestly try to see my duty, and, without fear or 
favor, to do it. Then what steps ca:n I take to help 
the ignorant to inform themselves, and to properly 
educate their children, that they may be prepared 
for intelligent and useful citizenship? If any of them 
have fallen into vicious habits, having become intem- 
perate, or shiftless, what can be done to bring them 
into a better state, to make them temperate and indus- 
trious?'^ 

And the celestial man, with his heart filled with 
heavenly love, does not stop with mere talk. He 
sets about the work of inquiring into the underlying 
causes, in our social structure, which lead to poverty, 
and the CAdls and immoralities fostered thereby. He 
does not say to himself, '^This business belongs to the 
public, it is no concern of mine." On the contrary, 
he says, ''If the public business is neglected, it is my 
special duty to see that the conditions are changed, 
and as far as I am able, I will work in season and out 
of season to right these wrongs against my brethren." 
And thus as the true celestial man comes in and comes 
to the front, it will not be long till all these outside 
inequalities will pass away, and the question will no 
longer be debated as to whether or not life in this 
lower world is worth the living. 



174 THE NEW CANAAN. 

And this active, energetic, persistent effort to do 
good on the natural plane, and on the spiritual plane, 
here a little and there a Httle, everywhere within the 
circle of our influence, is growing the corn of the land 
of Canaan, the fruits which the Celestial Church has 
always produced, and always will produce. As the 
seasons move on in successive order, still greater ab- 
undance will be reahzed, and the curse of long stand- 
ing shall forever pass away. Who that loves God 
and man does not long for such ai state, and is not 
willing with self-sacrificing energy to work for it? Espe- 
cially we who have the glorious light of the New Jeru- 
salem are called upon to throw ourselves into the 
world's great harvest, with energy, that we may bring 
in our sheaves, and lay them at the Master's feet, that 
we may not appear before Him as slothful and unprofit- 
able servants. Surely there can be no room in the 
great whitened fields of the Lord's kingdom of uses 
for idlers, till the coming kingdom is ushered in. The 
work is pressing, the needs are great, the harvest is 
ripe and ready to be gathered in, and saved from the 
storms. The old corn of the land, the unleavened 
cakes, and the parched corn are needed to strengthen 
and build up the heavenly church in this land, where 
the scattered remnants of the spiritual Israel have 
been drawn together from among all nations, and are 
ready to form the great central province of the coming 
Church from which light shall go forth to every land. 



XIY. 

"THE MANNA CEASED ON THE MORROW AFTER 

THEY HAD EATEN OF THE OLD CORN 

OF THE LAND." 



In the above chapters, particularly in the earlier 
ones, the radical difference between the two churches, 
the Celestial and the Spiritual, is made prominent, 
because it is fundamental, and needs to be constantly 
kept in view, at least till the people of the New Church 
became familiar with it. And as this difference seems 
to have been overlooked, as the rule, by the collateral 
writers of the church, it seems necessary to refer often 
to the specific statements of Swedenborg, touching 
this point, that the reader may become familiar with 
them. And as we have now reached the point in the 
history of the Israelites, where the distinctly spiritual 
type, as the Noachic and the first Christian Churches 
were, is about to pass forever away, and as the inspired 
history emphasizes this fact, we again turn to the 
lucid statements of the Writings. 

Just after the history of the Passover, and of their 
beginning to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan, 
it is said: ''And the manna ceased on the morrow 
after eating of the old corn of the land; neither had 
the children of Israel manna any more, but they did 

175 



176 THE NEW CANAAN. 

eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. " Now 
it is well known to every one acquainted with the 
Bible, that manna was the daily bread on which the 
Israehtes chiefly depended, for natural sustenance, 
w^hile in the wilderness, representing the Spiritual 
Church, specifically the first Christian Chiu-ch. And 
tiuTiing to the Writings, we learn that manna signifies 
the good of the Spiritual Church, that is the good 
which results from obedience to the truths of the 
Word. In the language just quoted, we are told that 
the manna ceased when they began to eat the fruit 
of the land of Canaan. If the manna represented 
the good of the Spiritual Church, and if it ceased at 
this time when they were begiiming to eat the fruit 
of Canaan, is it not evident that the Spiritual Church, 
as a distinct type, then ceased to exist, and that the 
New Celestial Church, whose good is represented by 
the fruits of the land of Canaan, now became fully 
estabhshed in the place of the consummated Spiritual 
Church? 

But that we may see clearly that the manna eaten 
by the Israehtes in the wilderness did represent the 
good of the Spiritual Church, entirely distinct from 
celestial good, let us turn to the Writings, and read 
what is there said. In explaining the words, '^This 
is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat,'' 
it is said: ''that hereby is signified that this is the good 
which shall be appropriated, and make their Hfe, in 
the supreme sense, that this is the Lord in you, appears 
from the signification of bread, as denoting celestial 



THE MANNA CEASED. 177 

and spiritual good, and in the supreme sense denoting 
the Lord, ... in the present case denoting spiritual 
good, that is, the good of the man of the Spiritual 
Church, which is the good of truth, inasmuch as this 
bread was manna, it follows that by manna is signified 
that good." (A. C. 8464.) In the above we are told 
that bread signifies celestial and spiritual good, also 
the Lord, but we are further told that in the present 
case, when bread stands for the manna which was 
given to the Israehtes, it denotes spiritual good, 'Hhe 
good of the man of the Spiritual Church." A little 
further down in the same number, we read: '^From 
singular the things in this passage, it is evident that 
manna in the spiritual sense is the good of truth, that 
is the good of the Spiritual Church. " Again in the same 
number: '^Marma also denotes the good of truth, which 
is given to those who undergo temptation and conquer. 
In Revelations: 'He who conquereth, to him will I 
give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him 
a white stone.' " 

As it is essential in this connection to have the true 
signification of the manna which ceased, when the 
Israelites began to eat of the fruit of the land, at the 
risk of seeming tedious, I must again quote from the 
Writings. In A. C. 8521, it is said: ''The good of truth 
is now described, which is signified by manna, both 
what the quality of truth therein is and what the 
quality of good therein is; the quality of truth is 
described by its being as coriander seed white, and 
the quahty of good by its being as a cake in honey. 

12 



178 THE NEW CANAAN. 

The good of truth, which is the good pertaining to 
those who are of the Lord's Spiritual kingdom, differs 
altogether from the good pertaining to those who are 
of the Lord's Celestial kingdom; the good of truth 
pertaining to those who are of the Spiritual kingdom 
is implanted in the intellectual part, for in that part 
is formed by the Lord a new mil, whereby man wills 
to do according to the truth which he had imbibed 
from the doctrinals of his church, and when he "s\dlls 
and does that truth, it becomes good with him, and 
is called Spiritual good, and also the good of truth. . . . 
From these considerations it is manifest what is the 
source and quahty of the good pertaining to those 
who are of the Lord's Spiritual kingdom. But the 
good pertaining to those who are of the Lord's Celestial 
Kingdom is not implanted in the intellectual part, 
but in the will part; they who are in this good know, 
from internal perception, which is from the Lord, 
whether a thing be true." 

It would seem that the large number of quotations 
now given, which directly and in the clearest manner 
assert that manna signifies the good of the Spiritual 
Church, and the good of truth, are sufficient to convince 
any one that this is the true meaning of the term. 
But I am safe in saying that scores of quotations 
might be given just as definite as the above, were it 
necessary. 

Then by representation of the IsraeHtes, while on 
their journey through the wilderness, we are taught 
that the good which should be reahzed by the Apostolic 



THE MANNA CEASED. 179 

Church, would result from obedience to the truth, 
and not such as comes from the love or will of good. 
But let it be borne in mind that the Israelites as a 
people, while on this journey, were not spiritual at 
all, but only represented a Spiritual Church. The 
natural journey from Egypt to Canaan was so planned 
by the Lord as in every particular to represent the 
Spiritual journey through which the Christian passes 
in washing his robe and making it white in the blood 
of the Lamb — ^the Divine truth. They were an un- 
spiritual people, natural and worldly in all their aspira- 
tions, and had no conception of the representative 
mission they were filling under the guiding providence 
of the Lord. And through all this representative jour- 
ney, after passing into the wilderness, they received 
and ate the manna provided by the Lord, and still 
ate it after crossing into Canaan, till after they began 
to receive and eat the fruit of the land, when it ceased, 
and it is said: ''Neither had the children of Israel 
manna any more, but they did eat the fruit of the 
land of Canaan that year." Having the better bread, 
representing celestial good, they no longer needed the 
manna. 

In the transition from one dispensation of the church 
to another, the old and the new overlap or intermingle 
for a time, that is some of the fruits or characteristics 
of the old dispensation, and some of the new, appear 
at the same time, while neither manifests its full life. 
Thus it was while the Israelites were in camp at Gilgal. 
After Joshua was commissioned to lead the people over 



180 THE NEW CANAAN. 

the Jordan, and while they received the new fruits of 
the land, and the manna ceased, their representation 
had been di\dded between the old and the new. But 
from this point in the history, the representation was 
entirely of the new. And the representation of this 
transitional period very clearly explains the peculiar 
conditions which have prevailed in the Christian world 
for the last century and a half. It has indeed been 
a mixed state. Through the first half of this period, 
the thoughts and states of life were largely dominated 
by the past, with only now and then a clearly marked 
expression of the new age, and its new hfe. But 
through the latter half of this period, the conditions 
have been reversed. New things have been the order. 
They have been cropping out with startling frequency, 
and in the most unexpected places. For a time the 
new expressed itself more distinctly in the realm of 
thought, shomng a constant tendency to break away 
from the tranamels of tradition and authority, often 
verging towards Hcense, and without consideration 
overthrowing long established customs, which seemed 
to the conservative essential to the well-being of 
society. But the closing years of the nineteenth century 
have manifested a change in the development of the 
new. The new activities have been more marked on 
the plane of the affections, than in the world of thought. 
A kindher and more sjnnpathetic spirit has become 
active in some directions, and gives promise of still 
greater changes for the better in the near future. 
Those who are coming more directly under the influence 



THE MANNA CEASED. 181 

of the New Truth, and who at the same time feel the 
warm breath which, as in spring time, is melting away 
the cold selfish states of the past, are beginning to 
acknowledge the brotherhood of men, and the solidarity 
of the hmnan race. On the part of the true Christian 
Israel, an upward trend is manifest, bright with promise 
for the future. The circumcision of the heart is making 
progress with large numbers, and true celestial fruits 
will soon begin to multiply around us. But it was 
to be expected that through this transitional period, 
till near its close, the spiritual type would largely 
predominate over the celestial type. Among the promi- 
nent thinkers and writers of the New Church thus 
far through this period, the cold, logical, and highly 
intellectual type has been the rule. Far be it from me 
to enter into any captious criticism of this class. It 
has doubtless been thus permitted by the providence 
of the Lord, because the nature of the work to be 
accomplished requires that type of men, and the time 
had not come for the fuller and more spiritual work 
of the New Church to be inaugurated. Till a secure 
foundation was laid on the doctrinal plane, the tropical 
warmth of celestial men would probably have endan- 
gered the whole movement. But now, with the secure 
foundation which has been laid by the extensive reading 
of the writings of Swedenborg, when the warm influx 
of celestial love, which is to characterize the New 
Dispensation, is let in upon the waiting disciple, the 
church wdll not only be able to stand as an impregnable 
fortress against any assaulting falsity, but will also 



182 THE NEW CANAAN. 

be able to move rapidly forward in the conquest of 
the world. 

Let us now return to the camp at Gilgal, and through 
the representative people, seek fuller instruction in 
regard to the present needs and duties of the New 
Church. In the particular part of the representative 
history which we have been considering, we are in- 
formed that after the manna ceased, 'Hhey did eat 
the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.'' To eat 
this fruit is to appropriate the good of the Celestial 
Church, or to receive the heavenly influx which now 
comes from the Lord by the re-opened internal way, 
and to incorporate it into the hfe, that it may be given 
forth to our fellow-men, through the acti\dties of life. 
And as has been shown, the land of Canaan signifies 
the Celestial Church. However, it has several shades 
of meaning, as indeed has almost every representative 
used in the Bible. As the home of the Most Ancient 
Church from which it derives its particular representa- 
tion, the Celestial Church may be considered its first, 
and essential representation, and that is clearly the 
meaning in the present instance. W^dX are the 
fruits of a Celestial Church, as considered in a general 
way? To answer in a word, they are love to the Lord, 
as expressed in all the varied activities and uses of 
the life in the world, or they are love to God shown 
forth in true neighborly love, which is an unselfish 
effort to be useful, to render kindly services to all as 
far as we have opportunity, and particularly to be 
just and upright in all our relations wdth others. These 



THE MANNA CEASED. ' 183 

fruits will result in a state of universal good throughout 
human society, and cannot fail to give perfect satis- 
faction to all whose happy lot it may be to participate 
in such a state of society. 

The Israelites were to eat of the fruits of the land 
of Canaan that year. We read in the Arcana (2906) : 
''That year signifies an entire time of a state of the 
church from beginning to end, or, what is the same 
thing, an entire period." Hence that year, signifies 
essentially the same thing as ''to-morrow, " which means 
to eternity, or forever. This language, in its repre- 
sentative sense, clearly means that when the fruits 
of the imperfect Spiritual Church, represented by the 
manna, cease, and in place of it, the fruits of the true 
celestial state come in, then this happy state shall 
last forever. The same great truth, so often reiterated 
in the Writings, that the New Church, which is to be 
the crown of all the churches, shall last forever, is 
here most distinctly asserted. 

It may be useful here to notice that the representa- 
tions of the coming New Church, as expressed in the 
book of Joshua, particularly in the first five or six 
chapters, are in part essentially the same as that 
contained in the Apocalypse. But in some respects 
there is a marked difference, not contradictory, but 
rather complemental. The revelation touching the 
Last Judgment, and the preparation for the coming 
of the Lord to inaugurate His New and Everlasting 
Church, as contained in the Apocalypse, is fuller, 
entering more into particulars than that in Joshua. 



184 ' THE NEW CANAAN. 

In the Apocalypse the General Judgment is particularly 
described, in all its different parts, that is as executed 
upon the different churches of Christendom. Their 
states are so fully laid open as to be readily seen and 
understood by one famihar with the explanations of 
Swedenborg. But in Joshua there is no elaborate 
description of it. It is simply said: ^'For Jordan over- 
floweth aU his banks, all the time of harvest, " the time 
of harvest signifying the Judgment. And the chosen 
people were led through the divided waters, as they 
had been led through the Red Sea, on leaving Egypt. 
But after they crossed the Jordan, and encamped in 
the borders of the land near Jericho, the formation 
of the New Church, through all its advancing stages, 
is fully described. And the description, though concise, 
seems sufhciently full to give an accurate idea of the 
coming church. In the internal sense, one acquainted 
with the symbols may see the process more clearly 
than any word-picture could express it. And this is 
the case not only in its early beginning, but also after 
it has entered its mature state, and begun the conquests 
of the land, every particular is set forth as to how 
the people of the New Church are to overcome and 
put away the old false and evil things which have 
been handed down from the dark past. Particularly 
is the great truth emphasized, that the Lord in His own 
might, subdues the spiritual foes of his people, while 
they have simply to yield obedience to the instruc- 
tions. And the New Churchman who carefully reads 
these instructions, as they stand in the internal sense 



I 



THE MANNA CEASED. 185 

of the Word, will see at a glance that there is every 
reason to trust in the Lord, and to move forward in 
the line of duty, with the sweet assurance that all 
his inheritance of evil, and all the old falses which 
have brought the dark shadows of death across his 
pathway, shall be turned back upon themselves, and 
forever disappear from his life, while the old channels 
of influx shall be re-opened, and in pearly beauty and 
freshness, the waters of life shall again flow down from 
the mountains to give purity and life to himself and 
to every thirsty soul. 

But permit me to say that while it is certain that 
the New Celestial Church is coming, bringing with it 
a greater fullness of blessings for our race than we 
can even imagine, nevertheless to receive its benefits, 
we must prepare ourselves for it. Its people are to 
be a peculiar people, utterly separate and distinct from 
the world as we find it to-day. This is all so fully 
represented by the requirements made of the Israelites 
on entering the land, that there is no room for doubt. 
With them circumcision was the distinctive mark of 
their separateness from the outside world. They were 
incapable of being regenerated, and brought into such 
states of soul purity and integrity as would in reality 
make them a people peculiar for every heavenly virtue, 
and for that soul state which is termed holiness, but 
they could submit to those external rites and ceremo- 
nies which represented the internal and real states 
of the heavenly life. Hence, as circumcision, the repre- 
sentative of regeneration by love, had not been prac- 



186 THE NEW CANAAN. 

ticed among them while they sojourned in the wilderness 
the first preparatory step they were required to take 
after crossing the Jordan, and encamping near Jericho, 
as we have seen, was to renew that rite, thus impressing 
upon the minds of the whole people the fact that they 
were to be a peculiar people, and that their success, 
in war and in peace, depended upon their separateness 
from the nations around them. And the lesson in all 
this which comes to us in a voice of authority, is, that 
we must perform the works, and come into the spiritual 
states so . distinctly represented by the requirements 
made of the natural Israel. 

This imperative lesson was given for us — ^was espe- 
cially intended for us, who may in the internal sense, 
read the instructions, which no other people have 
been able to read, which are just as essential for our 
spiritual well-being, as observing them in the letter 
was for the well-being of the children of Israel. 

By these we are taught that our life and conduct 
in the world are to be so distinctly marked, that we 
will be as fully separated, from the non-spiritual men 
of the world, as were the Israehtes from the old inhabi- 
tants of the land. Of course the separateness to be 
sought is of the spirit — ^the affections, the thoughts, 
the motives — in short all the principles according to 
which our external activities are to be shaped. We 
must be circumcised in heart. The hfe of the celestial 
man, from inmost principles, to the most external 
activities, should be clearly marked, as it were by 
some mountain elevation, Hfting it above the common 



THE MANNA CEASED. 187 

level recognized by the easy-going, and mammon-wor- 
shiping churches of our time. We should carefully 
separate ourselves from the lukewarm and formal, 
not however by withdrawing from our neighbors in 
some '^ holier than thou" spirit, but by the garment 
the spirit wears, which should make the distinction 
so clear that angels and men, and even devils, may 
recognize it at once. The celestial man, eating the 
fruits of the land of Canaan, will be robed in meekness, 
humility, gentleness and patience. He will put on the 
likeness of Christ by following Him in the regeneration. 
The Lord says: ''If any man will come after me, let 
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and 
follow Me." (Luke 9, 23.) Again, ''He that taketh 
not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of 
Me." (Matt. 10, 38.) Clearly the disciple is expected 
to follow the example set by the Lord, while he was 
in the flesh. And the disciple who hears what the 
Christ that dwelleth in him says, and does as He bids, 
is the true disciple. Now we are taught in the Word, 
and in the Writings, that the Lord dwells in His people. 
"If any man hear My voice, and opens the door, I 
will come into him, and will sup with him, and he 
with Me." (Rev. 3, 20.) "He that eateth My flesh, 
and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." 
(John 6, 56.) Indeed the whole-hearted disciple — 
the celestial man — carries the badge of separateness 
from the ungodly world with him wherever he goes. 
Even the presence, and the kind and gentle influence 
which goes out from him, without a spoken word, 



188 THE NEW CANAAN. 

are an eloquent proclamation of discipleship, and of 
citizenship in the fruitful Canaan, where the Lord 
dwells in the midst of His people. 

But let us not deceive ourselves. This regeneration 
by love, this circumcision of the heart, mil hurt the 
natural man. For a time it \d\\ make him sick and 
sore. But if one is not willing to bear the cross, and 
to deny himself, he is not worthy of citizenship in 
the Celestial Canaan, for no half-hearted work will 
answer the purpose. He must cross the river, and, as 
the sa}dng goes, burn the bridge beliind him. There 
is no place here for indecision, or for mental reservation ; 
no open door left for retreat, when once the battle, 
is entered. The word must be onward, till the victory 
is won, else defeat and failure will be the result. 

But among the churches of to-day, including the 
New Church, in regard to the possibihty of raising up 
a true heavenly church, the dominant con\dction is 
decidedly negative. This unbeheving and negative 
spirit, from whatever it may take its origin, was mani- 
fested in a most surprising manner by the reception 
given Mr. Sheldon's book, ''In His Steps," or ''What 
Would Christ Do?" which has attracted consid- 
erable attention. And, strangely, several of the criti- 
cisms by New Church writers, seemed to center 
upon the name, '^/n His Steps/' or "What Would 
Christ Do?" as though the imphed action or course 
of conduct were utterly unreasonable and impossible. 
'WTiile this was not a New Church book, and it is not 
probable that any New Chiu-chman would claim it 



THE MANNA CEASED. 189 

as such from a doctrinal standpoint, nevertheless its 
teachings were the plain, practical and pungent truths 
of the gospel, as proclaimed by the Lord while in the 
flesh. The writer of the book simply made following 
Christ, or true discipleship, to mean to-day, as it ever 
has meant, the rigid, unswerving application of our 
Lord's plain teachings, in every transaction of the 
daily Ufe, without regard to profit or loss on business 
lines, or in social influence. '^ In His Steps,'' as every 
one must know, simply means following His example. 
And ^^ What Would Christ Do? " as is just as evident, 
simply means, ^^ What would the Christ dwelling in me, 
have me do? " Certainly very appropriate inquiries 
for any real disciple to make in all sincerity and earnest- 
ness, every day of his life. But not all the New Church 
periodical writers failed to touch the spirit of the 
author of the book. There were some well considered 
reviews, that took in the author's meaning and spirit. 
And if such reviewers as had nothing but harsh things 
to say of the book and its author, had taken the trouble 
to consult both the Word and the Writings, they would 
have found themselves squarely in opposition to the 
teaching of both. I call the attention of the readers 
to the Apocalypse Explained, No. 254, which reads 
as follows: '^The reason why a comparison is made of 
the members of the church with the Lord Himself, 
when it is said, 'To him that overcometh wdll I grant 
to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, 
and am set down with My Father in His throne,' is 
because the life of the Lord upon earth was an example 



190 THE NEW CANAAN. 

according to which the members of the church were to live, 
as the Lord Himself also teaches in John: 'For I give 
you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 
If ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them. ' " 
(John 13, 15-17 — Italics mine.) 



J 



XT. 

BEGmNING THE CONQUEST OF THE LAND.-THE 
FALL OF JERICHO. 



By the cessation of the manna, which had fallen 
for the Israelites on the journey through the wilder- 
ness, the end of the Spiritual Church, that is of the 
First Christian Church, is clearly represented. And the 
land of Canaan in which they were encamped, and 
the fruit of which, from that time forth, they were 
to eat, signified the beginning of the New Jerusalem, 
after receiving the influx peculiar to that church. But 
the state represented at this point in the history was 
only its initiation into the distinctive state or condition 
peculiar to a church of the celestial type. As a com- 
posite body, it had been endowed with an ample store 
of remains, including some integrity of will, to constitute 
a suitable foundation for the regeneration of the celestial 
man, and for the descending New Jerusalem to rest 
upon. And now, the preliminary work being accom- 
plished, the new-old process of regeneration peculiar 
to the Celestial Church, which is by love, and which 
in the Word is represented by circumcision, is to 
begin. 

This state corresponds to the youth, well endowed 
by birth, carefully educated in all those departments 

191 



192 THE NEW CANAAN. 

necessary to a well equipped life in the world, and 
especially disciplined in the knowledge of the Word, 
and the general doctrinal principles of the church, 
having reached such a measure of maturity as to 
be able to choose and act for himself, now beginning 
to use those fundamental principles, in developing a 
true Christian character, firmly resisting every evil and 
false thing, and, at the same time, calling into the 
uses of an active life everything good and true, and 
thus gradually having the kingdom of heaven built 
up and confirmed in his life. But in accomphshing this 
great work, he will have many sore conflicts with evils 
and falsity. He will necessarily pass through the same 
conflicts described in the first chapter of Genesis, only 
they will probably assume severer forms, as he has 
a long train of hereditary evils to overcome, which 
the man of the Adamic Church did not have. But 
standing loyal to duty, he has nothing to fear, for it 
is the Lord, the Mighty One of Israel, who conquers 
his foes, and gives him the victory. And for the obe- 
dient and faithful soul, who firmly stands in the way 
of duty, the all-conquering power of the Lord will 
turn back the dark floods of the overflowing river 
of death, ''and they shall stand upon a heap," and 
he shall pass through dry-shod. 

It is this man, thus equipped, or this New Celestial 
Church, which is to be the crown of all the churches, 
beginning to build up the new life, which we are to 
follow in the inspired history, from the time the manna 
ceased, and the Israelites began to eat of the fruit 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 19^ 



of the land of Canaan. That is this Hteral history, 
which, in divinely arranged symbols, describes with 
great clearness and fullness the regeneration and 
growth of the New Church, which now stands at the 
door, and awaits the tardy welcome of the preserved 
remnant, out of which the true Celestial Church is 
to be organized, and at once begin the conquest of 
the world, on spiritual lines, as the old Israel did on 
natural and carnal lines. This little remnant, unknown 
to the proud, mammon-worshiping world, has only 
to open the door, looking towards the East, when 
the King of Glory shall come in, to dwell with his 
people and in them, as Himself has promised. 

But great apparent obstructions stand in the way 
of the forward movements of the people of the true 
church, which to large numbers seem insurmountable. 
And in the so-called Christian world, multitudes seem 
hopelessly immersed in falsity and evil, and have no 
desire for a Celestial Church or life, indeed are not 
willing to have either. To be let alone in their mammon 
worship, is all they ask or desire. And many of the 
present generation seem approaching the state of the 
antediluvians in the days of Noah. There are indeed 
great giants in the land, and many sincere but weak 
Christians are dismayed. Even the faithful few who 
long for the establishment of the heavenly church, as 
the rule, seem to have lost their grip of living, realizing 
faith in the Lord, and the vision of the coming church, 
which is so vividly described in the Word, and in the 
Writings, has become dim, and ceases to give inspiration 

13 



194 THE NEW CANAAN. 

and courage. Corruption in its direst forms so spreads 
itself in high places, and in low places, and is becoming 
so brazen and defiant, that even the faithful remnant, 
which the Lord is raising up, and preparing, as a nucleus 
around which He may form and inaugurate His heav- 
enly church, in many cases seem to have lost faith. The 
faithful few are scattered among the ungodly multi- 
tudes, and honest but doubting Thomas is much in 
evidence, and has persuaded many that even the 
people of the church are so bad that the Lord cannot 
raise up his promised church. And, indeed, the true 
Christian Israel occupies a position corresponding to 
that of the natural Israel before the forward movement 
began; or is more accurately indicated by the state 
of the Lord's disciples after His resurrection and ascen- 
sion, but before the coming of the Pentecostal influx, 
and enduement with power from on high. And it is 
to be expected that only a small number will have 
that abiding faith in the Lord, and in His salvation, 
which will give courage and assurance, until the new 
influx of power from the Lord, begins to touch their 
inner consciousness, and thus to make them strong. 
Nor is this strange. Take the case of the old Israel 
as an illustration. As viewed from the stand-point of 
human rationality, without the stimulus of faith, the 
thought that the children of Israel could level the 
great walled cities of Canaan, destroy the inhabitants, 
and take possession of the land, and make it their 
home, would have seemed unreasoning presumption. 
And indeed, without the experience of the Lord's 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 195 

power, which they had in their own dehverance from 
the Egyptians, by being led safely through the divided 
sea, and in being guided by the pillar of cloud by day, 
and the pillar of fire by night, and in being fed on 
manna throughout the journey, as well as in many 
other equally great manifestations of the Divine pro- 
tection — without this experience, it would have been 
rash and presumptuous in the extreme. 

But with the knowledge they had from experience 
of the presence and power of the Lord, and of His 
constant interposition in their behalf, in every emer- 
gency, they had from any stand-point abundant reason 
for having faith in Him, and for trusting in his promises, 
with unquestioning assurance. And how well founded 
was their faith! The Divine power, in a marvelous 
manner, was brought to bear in their behalf, in every 
emergency. Hence when they came to the Jordan, 
and found it overflowing all its banks, with the dark 
flood representing all the falsity and evil which had 
accumulated in the world, they were not dismayed, 
and passed through the divided waters, on dry ground. 
But from a natural point of view, they certainly seemed 
like a very unpromising multitude to lead across the 
Jordan into a densely populated country, teeming 
with strongly walled and populous cities, with the 
purpose of taking the land. 

And now the Christian Israel is called to undertake 
a corresponding conquest, on the spiritual plane. The 
Celestial Canaan, long devastated, and given over to 
evil, is to be conquered, and the Lord's people re- 



196 THE NEW CANAAN. 



established in the mountains of Israel. The preparatory 
work has been accomplished. The laws which are to 
govern the land have been made known, and drilled 
into the people. Definite instructions, clear and full, 
touching every point, have been received. And not 
only so, the same Mighty One who led ancient Israel, 
has promised to lead the Christian Israel safely on, 
and into the land, giving the victory in every conflict, 
on the simple condition of obedience. Every foe is 
to be cast out and destroyed. And the Israel of God, 
in its different tribal divisions, is to receive each its 
own representative allotment, and to settle down on 
the peaceful mountains, or in the quiet and well watered 
valleys, where the weary shall have rest, and the home- 
less homes, while in all the borders of the land, the 
wicked shall cease from troubling. 

But with the fullest and most assuring promises, 
how many timidly halt, and seemingly dread to hear 
the bugle call, which shall inaugurate the campaign, 
and lead to certain victory. And yet the evidence of 
the Christian Israel is not less full and satisfactory, 
than was that of the old Israel. Indeed it is so much 
fuller and more comdncing, because it is addressed 
to the internal man, and the spiritual rationahty, 
and is a matter of hving experience, which the true 
disciple of the Lord, who has faithfully followed Him 
in the regeneration, can never doubt, as it is a part 
of his hfe experience, and cannot be separated from 
himself. He knows in whom he trusts. He has opened 
the door of his heart, and the Lord has come in, and 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 197 

sups with him, and the communion is sweet and tender, 
and all-satisfying. The Lord not only manifests Him- 
self to him, but He abides with him. It is an established 
relation, which gives him power over evil, and power 
in all the active works of a useful life among men. 
And this indwelling Spirit of the Lord, is the rightful 
heritage of all His true disciples. For 'Hhe promise 
is to you and your children." And millions have 
lived in the experience of that witness of the Spirit, 
that inner, but conscious manifestation of the Lord's 
presence and saving power, yea millions, in that expe- 
rience, have joyfully welcomed the martyr's death, 
rather than deny the Lord. 

But notwithstanding all the manifestations of the 
presence of the Lord with His people, and of His saving 
power, many earnest Christians have been in a manner 
paralyzed. They think the evils which infest even 
the Lord's true Israel, are so great that we may 
not hope to so far get the better of them, as to come 
into a state of heavenly order in this life. This results 
from a failure to realize that the Lord has all power 
in heaven and on earth. It is contemplating the 
number and strength of the enemy, while failing to 
appropriate to the church of to-day the promises 
of the Lord. It is beholding the great walled cities, 
and the giants, instead of looking to the Lord and 
His might for the victory. 

The true doctrine of the Word, as expressed by the 
Lord, is: ''And I will pray the Father, and He shall 
give you another comforter, that He may abide with 



198 THE NEW CANAAN. 

you forever; I will not leave you comfortless; I will 
come to you. And I will love him and manifest Myself 
to him. If a man love me he will keep my words, 
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him, and make our own abode with him. Peace I 
leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Let not 
3^our heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. " These 
and many other passages in the Word, just as con- 
clusive, teach the doctrine of the abiding presence of 
the Lord with His people. And the same thing is 
just as distinctly taught in the Writings. (See A. C. 
92, and many other places.) 

But this doctrine falsified and profaned, is the 
veritable City of Jericho, which to-day stands with 
towering walls, just before the church, challenging 
all progress on lines leading towards the true internal 
Celestial Church, which the Lord has promised to 
build up. Whether the church beheves it or not, 
the complete victory for the Lord's Christian Israel 
is just as sure as was the triumph in the old Canaan. 
We all need the lesson drilled into us daily, till 
we learn to beheve it, that of ourselves we have no 
power against even the smallest evil, and that we can 
do nothing towards saving oiu^selves, or towards weaken- 
ing our enemies, only to place our cause in the hands 
of the Lord, and to have faith in Him, while we earnestty 
co-operate with Him, by shunning sin, and discharging 
known duties. And indeed nothing else is needed. 
But we have first to take Jericho, that is to overcome 
this chronic state of unbehef, or littleness of faith, 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 199 

and then the way will be clear for the conquest of 
the land; if we are true to our trust. 

It is said, '^now Jericho was straightly shut up, 
because of the children of Israel," that is because of 
the power of God as manifested through them. ''None 
went out, and none came in. " We have here a practical 
lesson of great importance. Jericho, in a good sense, 
signifies instruction in the knowledge of those truths 
which lead the receptive mind into the church. Or 
Jericho, as it relates to the individual man, represents 
the good and true, if he is in love to the Lord and 
the neighbor; but if he is in the love of self and the 
world, it represents the false and the evil. In this 
connection, as standing against the Lord's people, it 
signifies what we may term the doctrine of the false 
and the evil. It is a denial of the truth that in the 
Lord, and in the power of truth as filled with love, 
every false and evil thing may be cast out. In other 
words it denies the possibility of living the celestial 
life here and now, as did the people of the Most Ancient 
Church, saying in effect, ''we cannot live as the Word 
and the doctrines require." It is making the same 
claim, and occupying the same ground, as did the 
spies sent out by Moses, who after viewing the land 
said: ''We came unto the land whither thou sentest 
us, and surely it fioweth with milk and honey." But 
when Caleb and Joshua said, ''Let us go up at once, 
and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it," 
the ten unbelieving spies answered, "we be not able 
to go up against the people, for they are stronger 



200 THE NEW CANAAN. 

than we." And thus Israel was turned back into the 
wilderness to fill out the forty years of suffering before 
they were ready to cross the Jordan. ^^ According unto 
thy faith, so be it unto thee," will hold good, both 
as touching a true faith and its opposite, the doctrine 
of the false, grounded in self-love and evil. 

But how is this false and evil state to be broken 
up, that the true work of purification and regeneration 
may make progress in the church, and in the individual 
soul? As Jericho was straightly shut up, so that the 
evil inhabitants could neither pass out nor in, so should 
it be with the enemies of the soul, which are to be 
separated from him who would be saved. 

Here again we may find an illustration, by referring 
to the operation of a divine law, which leads to good, 
if obeyed, while if disobeyed, the result will be just 
the opposite. If one who is in good and truth, makes 
an active effort to be helpful to others, to communicate 
freely the good he has received from the Lord, to 
them, he will see his labors blessed, and good results 
appearing around him, while his own soul has been 
strengthened, and he has received more abundantly 
from the Lord. And if his outgoing life is free and 
copious, the influx from the Lord will be full and 
joyful. But if one should reverse this order, and shut 
up in himself every good impulse which flows in from 
the Lord, his own soul would be impoverished. The 
law leading to this result is inexorable. If the good 
received is not permitted to flow out in good deeds 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 201 

to others, the influx is closed by the stagnation within, 
and the fountain of life is dried up. 

Applying this same universal law to the opposite 
of good and truth, that is to the operation of falsity 
and evil,' at once the way becomes apparent for 
breaking up the evil state, and preparing the soul 
for receiving the priceless treasures of heaven. Let 
every evil affection, or passion, which struggles to 
pass out, and to express itself in words and deeds, 
be stoutly shut up; let every avenue of expression 
be cut off, and the gate-way guarded; let the 
Divine Commandments be vigorously apphed, till the 
imprisoned evil ceases the struggle to pass out into 
overt deeds, and as it becomes quiescent, it will be 
removed from the center to the circumference, and 
make little further trouble. 

In regard to the falsity and evil particularly brought 
to view by the besieged and straightly closed Jericho, 
let this thought be so entirely shut in that it can have 
no effect upon the life. This may be most effectually 
done by turning to the Word, and carefully and believ- 
ingly reading such passages as the following: ''And 
Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things 
are possible to him that believeth. " (Mark 9, 23.) 
'' For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, as a grain 
of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 
remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, 
and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matt. 
17, 20.) ''Therefore, I say unto you, what things 
soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive 



202 THE XEW CAXAAX. 

them, and ye shall have them.'' piark 11. 24.) These 
texts quoted; are but a few out of many to the same 
effect. 

That we may keep eventhing false and e^dl shut 
in, we should be watchful and careful, endeavoring to 
know our e^dls, and to hedge the way against them. 
As the hosts of Israel marched arotmcl Jericho, once 
even' day. and seven times on the Sabbath day, so 
persistently and constantly, with watchful care, we 
should, as it were, surround even' e^il thing, that it 
may find no open door into an e^il life. T\'e should 
have the piu-pose formed, not only to so resist every 
e^il thing as to maintain our integrity, but also to 
have the enemy cast out; that our peace and rest 
may no more be disttirbed. And this first great 
victory over the unbehe^ing state, represented by 
Jericho, once ftilly gained, makes the way easy to 
a<itive further victories. For one in this state has 
the fixed purpose of will to do right, and refuses to 
let any e^il find its way out into the life, and thus 
evil spirits are shut out, as they cannot enter a ptu'e 
heart. Were it not for inherited or acquired e^'il 
within, e^il spirits would be utterly imable to find 
any way of entrance to the htunan mind. Jericho 
would be straightly shut up because of this innocent 
and pure state, and e^Tl could neither go out nor enter 
in. E^tI spirits cannot bear angehc purity. They can 
only enter where e^il has entered by heredity or by 
evil in the life. The Jericho in us as individuals, 
and in the church as a composite body, must be so 



THE FALL OF JEBICEO. 203 

invested, and the evil inhabitants so closely shut in, 
that there can be no passing in or out. If evil spirits 
cannot enter, evil words and deeds cannot pass out. 
There may be within a dark inheritance of evil, but 
if the gates are shut, as were the gates of Jericho, by 
the power of Divine Truth, so that no evil deed may 
escape into the life, evil spirits will be turned back 
at the threshold. It has been said that evil, wherever 
found, belongs to evil spirits, and that they can come 
into their own. As it relates to inherited evil, which 
is really an active tendency to the evil, this is true 
only when one gives tacit consent of will. But if on 
their approach, he rises up in the name of the Lord, 
and shuts to the door against them, saying ^Hhou 
shalt not cross my threshold, " they will flee from him. 

The general law regulating the influx of evil into 
the actual life is essentially the same as that regulating 
the influx of good into the active uses of life, except 
that the exciting cause in these radically different 
influxes is just the opposite, the one being from below 
into the external man, while the other is from above, 
into the internal man, and thence through the ration- 
ahty into the external life. But when the soul door 
is open to the Lord, and one receives influx by an 
internal way, it will be full and free, or feeble and 
obstructed, in exact proportion to the out-flowing 
life of good. One can receive freely from the Lord 
only as he freely gives out to his neighbors, and to 
imiversal society. 

And in accordance with the same general law will 



204 THE NEW CANAAN. 

be the influx of evil from the hells. If it is willingly 
and freely received, the current will rapidly grow 
stronger, till it controls the whole Hfe. But evil spirits 
approach man only through the external mind. They 
cannot directly touch the internal man. They w^ork 
only on the lower earthly plane. Their chief aim 
is to induce men to turn their whole attention to the 
hfe in the world, thus withdrawing their thoughts and 
affections from heavenly things. And if the way is 
opened only a httle for evil spirits to come in with 
their false persuasions, inherited evils will be excited, 
and will become urgent to express themselves in the 
deeds of life. But if there is some measure of resistance, 
with the purpose to fight against evil, and that purpose 
is maintained, even though often temporarily defeated, 
the evil will gradually grow weaker, and will finally 
pass into a quiescent state, and be removed from the 
center of hfe, to the circumference, from which it is 
not hkely to be called into active hfe again. 

But there is another important point to be considered 
in connection with the changed state which the incoming 
church will inaugurate. No careful student of the 
two works on the Apocalypse can have failed to note 
that the preparatory state of the Church is distinctly 
described in many places. In the Apocalypse Re- 
vealed (533), it is said: ''The reason why the moon 
was seen under the woman's feet, is because the church 
on earth is understood, which is not as yet conjoined 
with the church in the heavens. " And the same thing 
is taught in No. 813, of the same work: ''By His wife 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 205 

making herself ready, is signified that they who are 
to be of the New Church of the Lord, will be collected, 
initiated, and instructed, and as this is signified by 
making herself ready, therefore it follows that that 
wife was to be clothed in fine Hnen, clean and shining, 
by which is meant inauguration by instruction. " Thus 
it is distinctly taught that there is to be a state of 
preparation, on the part of the church, for the marriage 
with the Lamb. And when that preparatory work 
is accomplished, and the church is really conjoined 
to the Lord, by marriage, the appointed station is 
reached, and the full infiux of the perfected church 
is received, in which state, by virtue of her relation 
to the Lord, being conjoined to him, she has absolute 
power over falsity and evil, unless, by some act of 
disobedience, that relation is disturbed, till the evil 
is put away, and is represented by the sin of Achan. 

The great difference between the church of the 
First Advent and that of the Second appears here. 
The church of the First Advent was a Spiritual Church, 
and was not, and could not be fully conjoined with 
the Lord. Her relation to the Lord is represented 
by that of the concubine to her husband. But the 
relation of the New Jerusalem, which is to be a Celestial 
Church, to the Lord, is represented by the relation 
of a true wife to her husband. In this case the union 
of the church with the Lord is perfect, and gives full 
power over evil of every kind. This is not only taught 
in many places in the Word, but in the history of 
the children of Israel, in entering Canaan and taking 



206 THE NEW CANAAN. 

possession of the land, it is represented so fully as 
to leave no room for doubt or uncertainty. The con- 
quest of the Israelites, and their victories, bloodless 
as far as they were concerned, over the old inhabitants 
of the land, who represented the falses and evils of 
the devastated church, show forth, in clear light, the 
certainty and ease with which the New Celestial Church, 
as conjoined in the Lord, will overcome and put away 
all manner of evil, since the Lord has all power in 
heaven and earth, and it is He, in the church, that 
doeth the work. 

Would that the people of the New Church might 
see the glorious inheritance to which they have fallen 
heir, and that they might see the strange infatuation 
of unbelief, which holds them as slaves to the deadly 
falsity of the consummated church, that it is not 
possible for them to keep the Lord's words, and to 
live heavenly hves in the world. It seems clear that 
when the church of the New Age takes its place as 
a distinctively Celestial Church, and when love becomes 
the controlling power in the work of regeneration, 
the conditions will be entirely new in every respect. 

In the miraculous dividing of the waters of the 
Jordan, to let the Israehtes pass, a truth of great 
importance is represented, which has a direct bearing 
on the question as to the ability of the people of the 
church to enter into heavenly states of life, by the 
freely extended help of the Lord. A short extract 
from the writings, explaining this miracle, will- set 
forth the truth referred to in clear light. '^For by the 



^ 



THE FALL OF JERICHO. 207 

land of Canaan, into which the sons of Israel were 
introduced, is signified the church, and by Jordan 
are signified introductory truths, which are those of 
the literal sense of the Word, for those truths also 
first introduce, but by Jordan and the waters thereof, 
as taken in the opposite sense, are signified the falses 
and evils which were from hell, by reason that the 
land of Canaan was then full of idolatrous nations, 
by which are signified all kinds of evils and falses, 
which constitute hell. . . . Wherefore it came to 
pass that as soon as the priests bearing the ark, dipped 
their feet in the water of Jordan, those waters were 
divided and went down, and the people passed over 
on dry land, and after this was accomplished the waters 
returned; but those same waters now signified intro- 
ductory truths, . . But when the land of Canaan 
was possessed by idolatrous nations, the signification 
of places and cities in that land was changed into 
the contrary, and hence Jericho then signified the 
profanation of truth and good : from these observations 
it follows that the city itself signified the doctrine of 
the false and the evil, which perverted the truths and 
goods of the church, and profaned them." (A. E. 700.) 
From this teaching it seems clear that the falsities 
from hell will be turned back, and instead, the bright 
waters of Divine Truth, flowing down from the mountain 
of the Lord, will fill the old channel, where the waters 
of falsity and evil flowed in such abundance as to 
overflow all the lowlands, before the Lord, by His 
Own Might, turned them back. That is the Truths of 



208 THE NEW CANAAN. 

the opened Word, set free from the falsities which for 
ages, have corrupted them, will flow into the natural 
minds of men in as great abundance as before flowed 
the waters of death. Thus the church will have the 
transparent truths of the Word, appealing directly 
to the rational mind, and to the heart, instead of the 
perverted truths of the consummated church. And 
into the channel where these pure waters of truth 
freely flow, no more can the river of falsity and death 
be turned, for its waters have been stayed, and turned 
back by the Hand of Omnipotence. 

Thus under the new conditions which are being 
inaugurated the man of the church is doubly armed 
against falsity and evil in all their forms. He rationally 
sees these abounding truths of the Word, truths suited 
to every possible condition and need, and against them 
falsity in its most subtile forms is powerless. And 
being fully equipped with truth suited to every condi- 
tion, and at the same time open to the Lord by an 
internal way of influx, is able to put to flight every 
assailing foe. Nor is it strange, as the Writings inform 
us, that he condemns his foes, and conquers in every 
assault. Indeed the Celestial people, thus equipped, 
move on from conquering to conquest, with as vic- 
torious results as followed the natural Israel. They 
are victorious not from any inherent virtue, but because 
they have made the Lord their refuge and strength. 
They have admitted Him into their inmost Hfe, and 
from this center. He comes down to the circumference, 
nerving the people by His own Might, and thus making 
them invincible. 



XYI. 
THE SIN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 



The primary object contemplated in writing the 
preceding chapters has been to give the representative 
signification of the transition of the Israehtes from 
the wilderness into Canaan, including the transactions 
in the camp at Gilgal, the taking of Jericho, and the 
sin of Achan. But while the main thread of the repre- 
sentative sense of this wonderful history, as contained 
in the first seven chapters of Joshua, has been kept 
in view, it has nevertheless been found impossible, in 
the prescribed limits, to do more than to lightly touch 
upon a few of the more important points. An explana- 
tion of such texts has been attempted as relate to 
the formation of the incoming church, the New Jeru- 
salem, and serve to make clear the radical difference 
between the Spiritual Church, and the Celestial Church, 
which receives infiux directly from the Lord, ''by an 
internal way.'' 

In the present chapter it is earnestly desired to 
bring to view a great danger which imperils the church, 
and blocks the way against all true progress. This 
danger is clearly set forth in the history of Achan, 
and also how it may be removed, that ''Zion may 
arise and shine, her light having come." 
14 209 



210 THE NEW CANAAN. 



The Psalmist says : '' If I regard iniquity in my heart, 
the Lord will not hear me." That is as much as to 
say, ^^if I indulge evil, while in that state, I may not 
expect help from the Lord. ' ' This principle is clearly 
illustrated in the history of Achan. On account of 
his sin, the army of Israel was powerless against Ai, 
till that sin was put away by his death. In this case, 
owing to the representative character of the Israehtes, 
the entire people are considered as one composite 
body, or man. Hence the defeat of all, because of 
the sin of one. But now since the representative 
church passed away, every man stands or falls for 
himself. The individual man, or the church as a 
body, that cherishes and practices evil, will inevitably 
fail in the Spiritual battle of life, till the evil is put 
away. 

The sin of Achan, viewed from a natural stand- 
point, seems to have resulted from a combination of 
evil influences. Covetousness was probably the most 
active factor in the case. When the gold and silver 
and Babylonish garment were seen, he coveted them, 
and yielding to the temptation, they were taken and 
hid in the earth, in the midst of his tent. And as 
every act among the Israehtes was representative, they 
having been chosen by the Lord, because of their 
special adaptation to this representative mission, the 
things taken, and the hiding of them, bring to view 
several collateral evils, each of which we may suppose 
had some influence in producing the combined effect. 
The gold which was taken is called, in the Hebrew, 



THE SIN OF ACRAN, AND ITS BEMOVAL. 211 

a tongue of gold. Now the tongue, the instrument of 
speech, signifies doctrine. Then the tongue of gold, 
in a good sense, would mean the doctrine of good. But 
here the tongue of gold is stolen, and means the opposite, 
that is perverted good, or the doctrine of good per- 
verted through some evil and selfish purpose, which 
has been concealed. The tongue of gold was wrapped 
in the Babylonish garment, which had also been stolen. 
It was a goodly garment, doubtless a costly and splendid 
one, and represents the external drapery of the church, 
particularly such forms and ceremonies as attract and 
please the natural man, while seeming to express with 
great solemnity the sincere worship of the heart. But 
the things represented by this Babylonish garment 
are wholly disconnected from the internal, living spirit 
of worship, as there can be no influx, as we learn in 
the Writings, ''of things relating to thought, from 
without, through the external senses, as it is contrary 
to order for the posterior to inflow into the prior.'' 
These externals are made to take the place of worship, 
from the internal spiritual man, and thus tend to 
satisfy the religious instinct, without really ministering 
to the soul's spiritual needs. The tongue of gold, 
wrapped in this stolen garment, is designed to fill the 
place of true internal good, which comes down from 
above into the outer deeds of life. But, alas, the tongue 
of gold is also stolen! It is not what it seems to be. 
It is not the ultimation of true good in the Hfe. The 
apparent good is a counterfeit, just like the outward 
covering with the stolen garment. Nor is that all; 



212 THE NEW CANAAN. 

it is stolen from the Lord; an enormous sin. The gold 
and the silver and the vessels of brass and of iron, 
were made sacred to the Lord. They were to be put 
into His treasury, and were to be used only in the 
service of His house. But the tongue of gold was 
clandestinely taken and appropriated to a sehish pur- 
pose, an indi\ddual use, in ^dolation of a positive com- 
mand. Hence it became perverted good, that is the 
doctrine of good changed into the falsity of e\dl. 

The whole meaning and deadly effect of the trans- 
action is made clearly manifest in the way and place 
where the stolen treasures were concealed. They were 
hid in the earth, in the midst of Achan's tent. In a 
good sense, a tent signifies celestial good. But a tent 
which has been made the receptacle of stolen goods, 
its very center being thus used, signifies an external 
appearance of goodness which is assumed to hide the 
e~vdl mthin — the real state of the heart and fife. These 
treasures were buried in the earth, in the midst of 
the tent. The earth here is the low and e^dl seLf-Hfe — 
the proprium from which aU this chain of e^dls has 
fink after link been forged. And as Achan with his stolen 
treasures is exposed, we see an effort to copy the 
true worship and services of the Lord, originating in 
the seK-hood, a system ha^dng the outward semblance 
of true worship, but aU put on by the evil loves of 
the natural man, for selfish ends. 

And here we are brought face to face with, a great 
danger and e^dl to which the incoming church in its 
formative state is exposed. For the history of Achan 



THE 8IN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 213 

indicates with all the clearness of prophetic enunciation 
the tendency which already manifests itself, to look 
to external forms and ceremonies — ^the mere outward 
drapery of the church, professedly as a means of con- 
junction with the Lord and the heavens. There is 
an active tendency in this direction, and taking the 
external guise of religion, it will unite with other 
evil tendencies, and precipitate disastrous results to 
the interior life of religion, which will require as heroic 
treatment, on the spiritual plane, as that of Achan 
required on the natural plane. And the disaster, 
and set-back represented by Achan 's sin, is prophetically 
enunciated by the symbols used, and will come to 
the church as a great defeat, filling the minds of the 
Lord's people with alarm. But by putting away the 
evil in deep humility and penitence, the church will 
be restored, and the conquest of the world will be 
carried forward with renewed power, for the Lord will 
ever go forth with His people to the battle against 
falsity and evil, and give the victory. 

But there is a danger of fearful import to individual 
members of the church, who have been led by the Lord 
into true internal states and experiences, if they should 
suffer themselves to fall under the alluring spell of 
a beautiful ritual, addressed to the natural senses. 

That the descending New Jerusalem is to be an 
internal church, and that those who enter its gates, 
will become internal men and women, doubtless all 
who are to any considerable extent acquainted with 
the writing of Swedenborg will admit. And if so, 



-14 THT XEW CANAAN, 

it would seem that even in this introductory s*age 
of the church there must be some who are really internal, 
and are being led by the Lord into the interior expe- 
riences of the celestial life. And if all who are eamestlj' 
seeking to be led by the Lord into a better state of 
life wi!] turn to the Arcana Ccelestia, and carefully 
ir : L study what is said, b^inning with Xo. 44S9, and 
continuing to the end. No. 44M, they may be warned 
against the great evil they would bring upon them- 
selves, were they to suffer their thoughts and affections 
to be fascinated by external ritualism, such as has 
been attractive in the consummated chiu-ch^ which 
would be to recede from internal thing?, and to accede 
to external things. 

Lideed it would be better to carefully study the 
internal sense of the entire history of Ham or and 
Shechem, as set forth in the Writings. 

These infii were descendants of the Most Ancient 
Church, and the goods and truths of that chiu-ch still 
remained partially with them and their faniilirs. We 
read that "Hamor and Shechem his son, sinned enor- 
mously in receiving circumcision. . . From these 
considerations it may appear what was the difference 
between those represented by Hamor and Shechem 
(who as being of the remains of the Most Ancient 
Church, were in internal things, and not in external), 
and between those signified by the sons of Jacob, 
who were in external things, and not in internal; and 
it may further appear that Hamor and Shechem could 
not accede to external things, and accept those which 



THE SIN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 215 

appertained to the sons of Jacob, without closing 
their internals, and if these had been closed, they 
would have perished eternally. This is the secret 
reason why Hamor and Shechem with their families 
were slain, which would not otherwise have been per- 
mitted." 

Now that the very state of affairs here brought to 
view is represented by the sin of Achan, and its effect 
upon the children of Israel, causing them 'Ho turn 
their backs before their enemies," seems beyond doubt. 
The New Church is to be celestial, and consequently 
an internal church. And bringing external, natural 
things into their worship, as we have seen, would cause 
them to recede from the internal, and to accede to 
the external, involving the terrible consequences, as 
quoted above. 

The theft from the Lord represented by taking the 
tongue of gold, signifies attributing good to ourselves. 
It is feeling that we are good, and that we do good, 
without remembering that ''none is good, save one, 
that is God." The real truth is that every desire and 
purpose, tending to good in the life, comes down from 
the Lord, into the man of the Celestial Church, by 
"an internal way," of influx, and into the man of 
the Spiritual Church, into his conscience, or into the 
truths of the Word, which he has received into his 
understanding. In both cases, all spiritual and heav- 
enly good comes by influx from the Lord, into the 
will of the celestial man, but into the conscience or 
truth of the spiritual man. Nothing good or true 



216 THE NEW CANAAN. 

originates with man, or comes in from without through 
his senses. And the heavenly influx from the Lord, 
becomes genuine good in us, only as by our voluntary 
co-operation it is brought out into the external life 
in the world, in good deeds and heavenly uses, and 
then returned to the Lord in grateful acknowledgment 
that all is from Him, and belongs only to Him. It 
is easy to learn all this in theory, but very difficult 
to really believe it, during all the earher stages of 
the regenerate life. And the difficulty and danger 
are much increased by the stolen tongue of gold being 
wrapped in the Babylonish garment, that is united 
to an external form of worship which is attractive 
to the natural man, and w^hich fills his highest ideal 
of genuine worship. Under such influences, the silver 
which in a good sense signifies spiritual truth, is hidden 
under the tongue of gold, wrapped in the Babylonish 
garment, in the earth of the proprium, that is the 
truth, fike the good, is perverted. The truth hidden 
there, concealed under the perverted good, and covered 
out of sight by the Babylonish garment, is powerless 
to act, hence the extreme danger. The way is hidden 
and winds in the labyrinths of falsity, with Httle hope 
of escape. The tongue of gold, the true doctrine of 
good, falsified and perverted, has become a bhnd 
leader of the bhnd, and has a controlHng influence 
upon the life. It has become the doctrine of Achan, 
and gives a false form and beauty to self-love and 
evil. 

It would not be difficult to apply this pungent teach- 



THE SIN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 217 

ing of the representative sense of this historical incident 
to the conditions now prevaihng among the churches, 
and particularly to our own little external Zion, — 
conditions which have already effectually blocked all 
progress in the expansion of the church in practical 
expressions of love and faith in the life. But it is 
probably better to simply state the truth, leaving those 
who are in the love of good to apply it to themselves. 
Others who are not in good, even should they see 
the truth, will feel little inclination to acknowledge 
its claims, or to bring it into the life. 

The question now arises, what lesson may be learned 
from the punishment inflicted upon Achan, and his 
sons and daughters, and all his effects? There is a 
far-reaching and most instructive lesson brought to 
view in this history. However, we can only notice 
some of the more important points. 

Achan, or rather the deeds of Achan, signify in a 
general way the profanation, and consequent taking 
away of good and truth from the church, and from 
the individual. Personally he seems to have been an 
unscrupulous man, accurately representing the selfish 
and covetous characteristics of the evil proprium. 

He was taken to the valley of Achor, a little north- 
ward from Jericho, and near the border of the land, 
and consequently '^ signifying the external good of the 
Celestial Church." (A. C. 10610.) That is, it signifies 
the good of the Celestial Church, as manifested in the 
external life in the world. Into this valley, repre- 
senting life in the natural world, the internal man 



218 THE NEW CANAAN. 



descends by influx, that he may express himself in 
the common pm*suits and business relations of men 
on this ultimate plane, that the kingdom of heaven 
may be estabhshed upon the earth. In this valley is 
the particular place where all the outside work in the 
process of regeneration should be accomplished, espe- 
cially that part in which we seem to be working as 
of ourselves, yet acknowledging that all the abihty 
comes from the Lord. It is among the rough duties 
and hard experiences of hfe, and yet it is the best place 
in all the world, if we are in earnest, to get rid of our 
evils, and to seciu'e substantial good — treasures in the 
heavens. And indeed it is only in the valley of Achor, 
among the ordinary affairs of hfe in the world, that 
great achievements are made in the heavenly life. It 
is appl}dng the true principles of hfe, that is the truths 
of the Word, to the hfe in its relations to our fellow- 
men, in all pubhc duties and ser\'ices, and as well 
in all private uses, that they are incorporated into 
the hfe, and thus made secure to us as an eternal 
inheritance in the hfe to come. 

The old thought which long prevailed in the Christian 
world, that a high standard of spiritualit}^ could only 
be attained by retiring from the ordinary duties and 
pleasures of hfe in the world, and of ha^dng the thoughts 
abstracted from natural things, and constantly directed 
to heavenly contemplations, and pious works, is the 
opposite of the truth. And yet, seasons devoted to 
contemplation, reading the Word, and prayer, are 
useful, indeed we may say indispensable, and may 



THE SIN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 219 

not be neglected without injury and loss. But these 
seasons should not come in conflict with our regular 
business, but should rather come in the early morning, 
and after the regular duties of the day are over, being 
to the day and its labors something as the Sabbath is 
to the six days of toil. It is well for us to remember 
that faithfulness in the duties of our calling, as a religious 
principle, is the best way to secure a preparation for 
heavenly uses in the life to come. 

But what has all this to do with stoning Achan in 
the valley of Achor? The relation will perhaps seem 
clear, when it is understood that stoning Achan to 
death, by representation brings to view the highest 
and grandest achievements of the regenerating man. 

It is said, ''AH Israel stoned him with stones." 
Now Israel here ''signifies the spiritual of the celestial 
principle in the natural," that is the truth principle 
of the Celestial Church, brought down into the natural 
mind, and applied to the duties of life in the world. 
The stones used, signify the truths of the Word in 
its hteral sense. But in this stoning of Achan, we 
should as far as possible dissociate from our minds 
the thought of the man, and understand that the 
stoning represents the vigorous application of the 
truths of the Word, to any false and evil state into 
which one may have fallen, and thus continuing right 
along, till the evil state represented by Achan 's sin 
is broken up and removed. The stoning has reference 
primarily to the removal of falsities which are united 
with evils in the life, or which in some way shield 



220 'J HE NEW CANAAN. 

and defend e\dl affections, if not actual evils in the 
conduct of life. And the stoning unto death, is prin- 
cipally a work to be done in our ot\ti individual Hfe. 
True we may often apply helpful truths to others, 
if we do so in love, and with a desire to do them good. 
AppHed in any other way or from any other motive, they 
will generally do more harm than good. But our chief 
work will ever be with ourselves, in applying truth 
to remove false and eAdl things from our own Uves. 
In this direction we, as individuals, should be active 
and determined. The Lord has provided the stones 
in great abundance, the literal truths of the Word, 
suited to every condition, but we are to cast them. 
We should be active and persistent in the effort 
to get rid of our evils. We should look carefully into 
the state of our affections and thoughts, and the inner 
motives which move us to action. 

The truths of the Word are more than stones 
with which we may pelt ever}^ false and evil thing. 
The Psalmist says, 'Hhy Word is a lamp unto my feet, 
and a Hght unto my path." Indeed it is an essential 
part of its mission, to shine into the dark places of 
hfe, making manifest the hidden works of evil. And 
if we would make rapid progress, we should use the 
truth as a hght to search our hearts by, and as a guide 
in ah we do. And as in its hght we see T\Tong 
states of hfe, active affections and desires, moving to 
deeds outside the straight line of rectitude, or even 
seeming to develop in our hves an imspiritual state, 
making us in any measure careless in regard to the 



THE SIN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 221 

growth of true heavenly qualities, we should at once 
apply the stones of truth to that particular evil, or 
to any imperfect state. We should keep right on 
using the truth, applying it to the tenderest places, 
where it hurts most, and with the direct object in 
view of destroying the life of the recognized evil, 
and thus freeing ourselves from its influence. The 
vigorous application of truth in this way, as it 
destroys a false and evil principle which has been 
marring the life, will at once call into life and har- 
monious action true and heavenly principles, which 
could not before express themselves, but which will 
now fully occupy the place from which the evils have 
been removed. Thus in true order the flowers and 
fruits of the Celestial Canaan will appear, and ground 
which has long lain waste, or worse than waste, will 
abound in good fruits. 

Achan was first stoned, and then burned. The ston- 
ing, as we have seen, has relation to the persistent and 
effective application of the truths of the Bible, in 
condemning and removing every false and evil thing 
from the hfe. We are told in the Writings that, '^To 
stone any one, signifies to extinguish and demolish 
falses, " when used in a good sense. And in this case, 
that is clearly the sense in which it is used, as it was 
''all Israel," all the Lord's people, that stoned Achan. 
It signifies the application of genuine truth, till the 
falses and evils which Achan and his sin represented 
were destroyed. And this destruction of the evils and 
falses which brought the children of Israel into trouble, 



222 



THE NEW CANAAN. 



causing them to turn their backs before their enemies, 
was a most thorough work, and carried with it a far- 
reaching significance, which when seen makes the 
glorious gospel seem as a new revelation, while the 
great redemption, wrought out by the Lord, assumes 
a grandeur and completeness which no human language 
can express, especially when we consider that the 
redemption is from every thing evil and false, for the 
individual, and for the race man, as far as it is accepted. 

It is said, ''and all Israel stoned them with stones, 
and they raised over him a great heap of stones unto 
this day.'' The great heap signifies the multiplication 
of goods and truths in great abundance, while ''by 
this day is signified perpetuity, and eternity." Thus 
we are taught, not only that the falses and evils signified 
by Achan shall be forever separated from the church, 
and destroyed, for it is the church as a composite 
body, the universal church of earth, that is particularly 
treated of, but that the abounding and ever increasing 
fullness of good and truth shall continue forever. 

Now the truth, as considered by itself, is severe and 
relentless. It demands of the transgressor the utter- 
most farthing. It hews to the line and the plummet. 
It judges and condemns without mercy. But when 
the truth has done its work, and the culprit stands 
before the bar convicted, then the fire of Divine Love 
comes in and does its thorough work. Its influence 
is gentle and forbearing, and tender even while con- 
suming the condemned falsity and evil. It conquers 
evil with good. It consumes hate with love. It burns 



THE SIN OF ACHAN, AND ITS REMOVAL. 223 

out the bitter and haughty spirit with humiUty and 
meekness. In the language of Paul, '^Love suffereth 
long and is kind, love envieth not, love vaunteth not 
itself, is not puffed up. " We may well say with Drum- 
mond, ^^Love is the greatest thing in the world.'' 
Wherever its presence is felt, sin cannot abide. Under 
its influence, even the dead body which was stoned 
in the valley of Achor, is consumed and disappears. 
Its penetrating power is able to dissolve and dissipate 
every noxious thing. Indeed there is no other agency 
in the universe so perfectly adapted to this work as 
the fire of Divine Love. 

And when we see in the light of truth, the false 
and the evil in our own lives — ^the Achan which troubles 
all the Israel within, and directly apply the truth to 
the condemned evil, then the way is open for such 
an influx of love — ^the fire of heaven, to flow into our 
souls, and to kindle into such a flame as will reach 
out and consume every evil thing, and cause Achan 
to pass forever out of our little world. We may rest 
assured that evil which has been seen and condemned 
will be burned out by the flame of heavenly love. 
Love to God, love to the neighbor, love to the church, 
and love for everything pure and good, actively burning 
in the soul, will consume even the dross of evil loves, 
and base desires. Its penetrating influence will leave 
nothing untouched in the soul where it abides. 

In the incoming church, considered as a composite 
body, a unit from many, love is to occupy the first 
place. Its power will be felt in every heart, and will 



224 THE NEW CANAAN. 

gently lead and control every faculty of the individual 
soul, as it controls the greater body. And with the 
influx of heavenly life, again received from the Lord 
by ^^an internal way," with abounding and ever in- 
creasing knowledge of Divine Truth, as received and 
held by the people, the conquest of the Celestial Church 
will be rapid, and most thorough, as was that of the 
old Canaan under Joshua. The word has gone forth, 
that the kingdoms of this world are to become the 
kingdoms of the Lord, and His Christ. Then as the 
treacherous Achan which troubles Israel is discovered, 
and with his sons and daughters, and the Babylonish 
garment, and the silver and the tongue of gold, and 
indeed all his effects, are burnt with fire, then, in rapid 
succession, all the strongholds of inherited evil shall 
fall, and all the kingdom shall have peace. Then shall 
these words of John the Revelator be fulfilled: '^And 
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, 
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia, for the Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, 
and give honor to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb 
is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. Amen.'' 



^AY 18 1903 



I 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



I 






<\^ 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 395 035 9 



U 



J T 



^iN" 



wt 









p- crts >lif itilas. 

. »)"*J w-fil IslS- -■£! 



h-i 






'lira 




.P 



'^rut 



